The Rogues Gallery
by Wolfram-and-Hart-Sauron
Summary: What happened in Gotham Harbor? What do five of Gotham's biggest criminals have to do with it? Who is the mysterious Joker? Crossover fic. It's "The Usual Suspects" set in the Batman universe.
1. Chapter 1

The Rogues Gallery

By Wolfram & Hart Sauron

Chapter 1

Disclimer: I don't own Batman or _The Usual Suspects_.

**Gotham Harbor, Gotham City. Last Night**

On a boat in Gotham Bay, Harvey Dent groaned in pain as he pulled himself into a sitting position. He took out a pack of cigarettes and prepared for a last smoke. Over the sound of the water sloshing against the side of the boat, he thought he heard police sirens. He sighed as he fumbled for his matches; if they arrived before he bled to death, he was looking at a long stay behind bars. He needed to decide. He pulled out his coin and flipped it. It landed on the scarred side.

He held a cigarette in his scarred lips and lit a match. After he lit it, he set the matchbook aflame and dropped them in a puddle of gas near his mangled legs. He'd rather die before going to prison or back to Arkham. He watched as the flame gain speed as it traveled along the trail of oil across the deck towards the stacks of oil barrels.

Suddenly, a stream of liquid fell and put out the flame just as it was within a few feet from the barrels. Harvey looked up and saw a figure in the shadows, the liquid squirting from a flower in his lapel. Dent sighed and hung his head in defeat. The figure walked out of the shadows towards him, humming some random tune. He didn't look up, but saw the man's purple trench coat as he stopped in front of him. He slowly looked up at the man who shot him and his eyes went wide in realization.

"Son of a bitch." Harvey said, smiling bitterly.

"Hey, that's my mom you're talking about." The man said, pulling out a pack of cigarettes of his own. He pulled out a gold lighter and lit his smoke, grinning down at the former lawyer. "So, how you doin', Two-Face?"

"I can't feel my legs." Two-Face said, looking up at the man with hatred and despondency. "You must have shot me in the spine before you shot my kneecaps, Joker."

"Yep. Now Dent's dented. Hehehehahaha!" The man said laughing. He pulled out a stainless .38 revolver and aimed it at Dent. "Ready?"

"What time is it?" Two-Face asked, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of answering.

"12:30." The man said, turning over his gun hand to see his gold watch. "Hey, Harv, stop me if you've heard this one. A guy phones a law firm and says, 'I want to speak to my lawyer." The receptionist says, 'I'm sorry, but your lawyer died last week.' The next day the same guy phones the law firm and says, 'I want to speak to my lawyer.' Once again the receptionist replies, 'I'm sorry, but your lawyer died last week.' The next day the guy makes his regular call to the law firm and say, 'I want to speak to my lawyer.' 'Excuse me sir,' the receptionist says, 'but this is third time I've had to tell you that your lawyer died last week. Why do you keep calling?" The guy replies, 'Because I love hearing it!' HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

**BANG! BANG! BANG! **

The man turned away and put his gun in its holster. He walked towards the edge of the boat, and then he took the cigarette from his mouth and threw it towards the barrels of oil. The explosion rocked the boat, charring everything on deck as the man walked down the pier that was littered with dead bodies. From his hiding place, Jason Todd sat paralyzed in horror at the scene that had unfolded in front of him. He was too scared to move even as he saw the police cars pull up.

"Don't move!" Ordered the cop who found him. Todd looked up from where he was sitting, and pointed to his prosthetic hand and his oddly shaped leg.

"Like I could do anything?" Todd asked pathetically.

The pier was in chaos as the Gotham PD tried to sort just what the hell happened there.

Read and review cause there's more to come! Oh, and if you've seen the movie, don't put spoilers in your reviews and ruin it.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

(Author's note: Lines in _italics_ during flashback scenes signify Jason Todd narrating.)

**The Gotham District Attorney's Office. Today.**

The Gotham District Attorney peered at the man across his desk. Jason Todd was a pitiful little man in his 30's. His left arm sported a plastic prosthetic hand and his left leg was twisted and turned inward. He had explained that the damage to his leg and the absence of his left hand were the result of a motorcycle accident several years ago. He absent-mindedly ran his good hand through his dark hair as he gathered his thoughts. The attorney had been informed this guy had a record, but today he was a witness so he couldn't get him on anything.

"Go ahead." The DA said, resting his arms on his desk.

"It all started about six weeks ago." Todd said. "A truck load of stripped gun parts got jacked outside of town. The driver said the hijacker was wearing some kind of costume, so he couldn't tell what he looked like. But the guy screwed up royally, the driver heard his voice. Sometimes, that's all you need to nail a guy."

**Gotham City. 6 Weeks Ago**

"Freeze!" A cop shouted as the team burst into the apartment of Edward Nygma. They surrounded Nygma, who was lying on the couch doing the crossword.

"Don't you ever knock?" He said, looking up from his puzzle.

"Edward Nygma. We have a warrant for your arrest." One of the officers said.

"Later. Right now, do any of you know a five letter word for a physics term that starts with 'Q'?" Nygma asked. He was answered by the cops pulling him to his feet and dragging him out of the apartment.

In his lab, Dr. Jonathan Crane was looking over videos of his experiments on agoraphobia. Suddenly, the doors burst open and policemen filed in.

"Dr. Crane, we have a warrant for your arrest." The lead cop said. Crane reached over the desk for something, which prompted the cops to aim their guns at the former psychologist. He only produced his glasses and put them on calmly.

"You were saying I was under arrest?" Crane asked.

A pudgy man in a suit, walked down the street swinging an umbrella. His long nose in the air purveyed a snobbish expression of superiority. Oswald "The Penguin" Cobblepot was striding towards his lunch at the Silver Spoon restaurant. Suddenly two policemen came around the corner and made a beeline for him. The man nonchalantly turned to walk the other way, only to find two more policemen standing behind him.

"Is there a problem, officers?" The Penguin asked, his voice filled with arrogant and condescending.

In The Gilded Truffle restaurant, a man and his fiancée walked into the restaurant arm in arm. They earned a few stares, but they were used to it. Though it wasn't the scarring on the man's face that bothered them, it was his past. Harvey Dent and Rachel Dawes sat down at their table, both ready for a nice quiet dinner.

"So, Harvey, how's the campaign?" Rachel asked, hoping it was going well.

"Oh what's to tell? Most people say politicians are crooks; with me at least they know for certain." Harvey asked, chuckling. He stopped when he saw Rachel wasn't laughing. "Ah, come on, babe. You know that's all behind me."

"I know." Rachel said, taking Harvey's hand. "I just wish everyone else would put it behind them and see what a decent human being you are."

They smiled at each other until a man walked up to the table. Without looking up, Harvey assumed it was the waiter and ordered. "We'd like a bottle of champagne please."

"Sorry, no alcohol tonight, Dent." The man replied curtly. Harvey rolled his eyes when he heard the familiar voice. He looked up and saw the face of his old friend, Lt. James Gordon accompanied by two other officers.

"Hi, Jim." Harvey said sardonically.

"Don't call me Jim." Gordon said sternly. "You lost the right to call me that a long time ago."

"Officer, what's going on?" Rachel asked, getting a little upset.

"I'm sorry, Miss Dawes, but we have a warrant for Mr. Dent's arrest." Gordon said apologetically. "We have reason to believe he was involved in a hijacking."

"That's ridiculous!" Rachel said heatedly.

"It's OK, Rache, they got nothing on me. I'll meet up with you later at home." Harvey said calmly. The police escorted Dent out of the restaurant much to his and Rachel's humiliation.

At the station, five suspects shuffled down a hallway to the line up room. At the front was Jason Todd, hobbling along on his crooked leg. Behind him was Harvey Dent, who had taken his jacket off and carried it in his arms. Next was Oswald Cobblepot, with his umbrella slung over his shoulder. Then Edward Nygma and finally Dr. Crane.

_It made no sense that_ I _was there. I mean, these other guys were hardcore crooks and I was a smalltime con man, I don't know how they thought I could have something to do with it. But there I was. At that point I wasn't worried, I knew I hadn't done anything they could put me away for. Besides, it was fun being there with the big league guys. I felt all infamous._

The five men filed into the room and stood up against the line up wall. They were blinded for a second as the bright light came on.

"Christ, you think they're giving us a tan before they book us?" Dent asked, getting a chuckle from the other men.

"Shut up!" came a voice from the other side o the glass. "All right, you all know the drill. When your number's called, step forward and repeat the phrase given to you. Number one, step forward."

Dr. Crane took a step forward and looked at the card the officer gave him. He sighed and said in an indifferent voice, "Hand me the keys or you're fucking dead."

"Number two, step forward."

Edward Nygma took the card from Crane and stepped forward. Edward Nygma stepped up and screamed, "GIMME THE FUCKING KEYS OR YOU'RE FUCKING DEAD YOU ASSHOLE RAT BASTARD BLAAAAAAAAAHH!"

The others couldn't help but laugh at the over the top antics, which prompted the inspector to order "Knock it off! Step back! Number three step forward."

Oswald Cobblepot stepped forward and looked down his nose at the card. "I won't."

"Say again?" The officer asked.

"I won't demean myself by uttering this vulgarity for your amusement!" Oswald said defiantly.

"Do it or you'll be up for obstruction!"

"Oh for heaven's sake!" Oswald said defeated. "Hand me the keys or you're fucking dead. Happy?"

"Yes. Number four, step forward."

Harvey Dent took the card and read it quickly. "Hand me the keys or you're fucking dead."

"Number five, step forward."

Jason Todd lumbered forward with the card in his one hand. "Hand _me_ the keys or you're fucking dead."

_They took us one by one into the interrogation rooms and drilled us all night. Somebody was mad as hell about that truck getting jacked and the cops had nothing. They were grasping at straws with the five of us, hoping somebody would slip up and give them a lead. They knew we wouldn't fight it cause they knew how to lean on us. Our rights went straight in the crapper, it was disgraceful. They started with Edward Nygma, known to most of Gotham as the Riddler. He used puzzles and brainteasers to keep the cops off his back while he committed his crimes. Nice guy, smart but crazy._

"So, where did you dump the truck?" Lt. Flass demanded.

"What truck?" Edward Nygma inquired.

"You know damn well what truck, Question Boy!" Flass said dangerously.

"'Question Boy?' Oh gentlemen, can't you do any better than that?" The Riddler asked.

"Hey, we're the ones asking the questions today, pal!" Lt. Eckhardt barked.

"Sorry, it's just my nature." The Riddler shrugged. "You know, you really have an interesting job, always asking questions. I think I might have enjoyed being a cop."

"Shut up!" Flass said, smacking the back of Riddler's head.

"I thought you wanted me to talk, now you're telling me to shut up. You guys should make up your minds." Riddler said acerbically.

_Oswald Cobblepot, or as you probably know him, the Penguin. He worked with the Riddler occasionally. He was kinda hoity-toity, but when it came to the job, he was a total professional._

Oswald's turn came and he was no better off. "Who?"

"The Riddler, your pal with a mania for puzzles, he told us a totally different story." Flass said.

"Oh, was it the one about the time we robbed that country club?" The little snob asked.

"Listen pal, you're sweating bullets like you're guilty as hell, so why don't you save us some time and tell us where the truck is?" Eckhardt snarled.

"I am sweating because arctic birds don't do well in this kind of heat!" The Penguin snarled back. "I hope you can hear me in the back, I'm being harassed."

"Yeah, cry me a river." Eckhardt snorted. "Now you're going to tell us what we want to know!"

"Please, a fellow of my breeding would never show such weakness in front of the likes of you." Penguin said haughtily. "I'm a penguin, not a pigeon."

_Dr. Jonathan Crane a.k.a. the Scarecrow, former psychologist in Arkham Asylum and specialist in fear inducing drugs. He was as ruthless as they come. He didn't give a damn about anything besides scaring people._

"I want my lawyer." Dr. Crane said calmly when he was taken into the interrogation room. "I'm going to have your badge for this."

"Yeah right!" Eckhardt said fiercely, slamming his big meaty hand on the table.

"That rattled you, didn't it?" Scarecrow asked, smirking. "Your whole life is being a cop, and it scares you stop being one, doesn't it?"

"We can put you in the outskirts of the city on the day of the hijacking." Eckhardt threatened.

"Really?" Scarecrow asked sarcastically. "I live on the outskirts of the city. Fine detective work there, boys. Do you bounce ideas off of the police dogs?"

"You know what happens if you do another term in the joint?" Flass asked.

"Yes, I get to try out for the prison production of _The Producers_." The Scarecrow answered snidely. "What about you, Flass? You strike me as a claustrophobic person. Afraid of getting stuck in small places? You know, this room isn't really that large, are you sure you can handle it?"

"Save your mind games for the lab rats." Eckhardt said, interrupting the Scarecrow's monologue.

_But Harvey Dent, or Two Face as you guys are so fond of calling him, he was the real prize for them, for obvious reasons._

"I'm charging you." Flass said to Harvey Dent as his turn came.

"With what?" Dent asked exasperated.

"You know damn well, Two Face." Eckhardt said angrily.

"Hey, it was your mistake, not mine." Two Face said, leaning back in his chair. "Why didn't you ever just ask me? I've been walking around the same name, same face…"

"Faces." The two cops said mockingly.

"I'm not in that business anymore." Two Face said angrily. "I've got a new career in the works."

"What, running for the DA's office again? Uh uh. You blew that long ago." Eckhardt said, getting right in his face. "From now on, getting fucked by us is your career! I'm gonna make you famous, freak!"

"Like I said, it was _your_ mistake, not mine. Now, you charge me with this bullshit or get me the hell out of here. Let's get back to the truck, asshole." Two Face said seething. In response Flass punched him in the face.

Later, Two Face was lead back to the holding cell, a bruise that was noticeable even among the scarred tissue on the left side of his face. He walked in to find the Penguin pacing and ranting about the arrest, while the others just sat around.

"This is an outrage! An absolute travesty of justice! The have no right to do this!" The pudgy man fumed.

"Penguin, will you calm the hell down?" Scarecrow asked, tired of the snob's whining. "We won't be here much longer, they have no probable cause."

"It's not right. So, I may have had a stay in the state's correctional facilities, that does not give them the right to pull me off the street whenever someone is robbed. To hell with them all. They treat me like a common criminal. I am NOT a common criminal!"

"Fine, you're an extraordinary criminal." Scarecrow said, rolling his eyes.

"True, but don't interrupt, I'm trying to make a point!" The Penguin said triumphantly.

"That'd be a minor miracle. As if I haven't heard enough of you making points from the other side of the desk." Two Face sighed, earning a glare from the Penguin.

"Riddle me this, Dent." The Riddler said, staring at the scarred former lawyer. "I heard that you died."

"You heard right." Two Face said not looking at him.

"Yet here you are. How is that possible?" The Riddler enquired.

"You don't believe in life after death?" Two Face asked sarcastically.

"I heard you dropped out of the life." Scarecrow interjected.

"What?" Riddler asked, incredulous.

"Yep, seems our dear Mr. Dent's gone straight. He's screwing Rachel Dawes." Scarecrow continued.

"That mousy little idealist at the D.A.'s office?" Penguin asked, remembering how she got him locked up for the jewelry store heist a year ago.

"Oh she may be a little girl, but she's got backbone. I think our dichotomous friend here sees her as his meal ticket and maybe a little help for his image." Scarecrow said, smiling at the rage welling in Two Face's eyes.

"Is it true, Harv?" Riddler asked giggling. "Are you a lawyer's wife? How often do you offer her an appeal?"

"I'd say you struck a nerve, Edward." Penguin said, smirking.

"Do your friend a favor, bird brain, tell him to shut up before I shut him up." Two Face said grimly.

"The great Two Face gone straight. I don't buy it." Riddler said grinning. "I bet you hit that truck, or at least are working with the guy who did."

"Nah, this whole thing was a shakedown." Two Face said dismissively.

"What makes you say that?" Scarecrow asked, slightly curious.

Two Face, being an ex-district attorny, knew most of the procedures of the Gotham police, especially the corruption of the precinct. "How many times have you been in a line up? A few times, right? Well would I be wrong in assuming that when you were in it, you were the only one who actually did something and the other four guys were dummies?"

"You would not." Penguin said, interested.

"That's right." Two Face nodded. "They have no real leads mostly cause, with that fucker Marone running things, they don't _want_ to find any. They pay homeless guys half the time to point out nobodies so they can pin it on so there's less of a threat to anyone with knowledge of his business getting indicted and spilling to the DA about him. No way in hell do they get five actual felons in one shot, even on accident. No way."

"So then, how did they arrive at arresting us if they don't want to put criminals behind bars?" Riddler asked.

"The Feds." Two Face stated as if it was obvious. "A truck full of guns gets stolen, Customs comes down hard on G.P.D. for answers, and they can't pass off homeless guys to the Feds as possible suspects like they do the city officials. They had to come up with guys who actually could do something like that to at least give the appearance of doing their job. It's all political bullshit."

"So then who stole the freaking truck?" Riddler asked, frustrated at being unable to answer this riddle.

"I don't give a damn. What I want to know is who's the gimp?" Scarecrow said, staring at Jason Todd, who had stayed out of the conversation up till then. Todd looked up as the four big time thugs stared at him.

"That's Jason Todd." Two Face supplied. "He's OK."

"What's your story, one armed bandit?" Scarecrow asked, getting a cringe out of Todd as he put his hand on his prosthetic limb.

"I just moved to Gotham last year." Todd said defensively. "I haven't really done anything worth reading about."

"We met a few times in, uh, where was it?" Two Face asked.

"County." Todd supplied. "I was there on a fraud charge. We met in a line up then, too."

"How'd that turn out, anyway?" Two Face asked, curiously.

"I walked." Todd shrugged. "Ninety days, suspended."

"So it was you, you scoundrel!" The Penguin said in mock accusation.

"Look, this whole thing has fucked us all up." Riddler addressed the other four men. 'I think we owe it to ourselves to get back some dignity. I have a plan for a job that'll pay the cops back with interest."

"Oh shut up, already." Two Face snarled, rubbing his temple.

"No, I want to hear this." Scarecrow said, standing up.

"Hey, I'm just talking." The Riddler said, holding up his hands. "Besides, it seems Penguin and Dr. Crane want o hear what I got to say. How about you, Todd?"

The cripple looked intrigued and nodded. "Let's hear it."

"There, see?" Riddler said victoriously. "Now, I'm gonna use my Constitutional right to free assembly… or incarcerated assembly, whatever… to talk to some friends about an idea."

"I'm not joking, shut up." Two Face snarled.

"You're missing the point, Harvey!" Riddler argued.

"No, you're missing the point. Shut the fuck up. You want to talk, fine. I don't want to hear your little plan. I don't want to know anything about your little job. Don't let me hear a word. I want don't want anything to do with it or any of you jackasses." Two Face said angrily, before turning away.

"Harvey Two Face taking the straight and narrow." Riddler shook his head. "The world's gone mad."

"Screw him, what's the job?" Scarecrow asked eagerly.

The other four criminals huddled together to hear the Riddler's scheme. "Now, I can't go into detail cause of our current location, but listen up…"

_And that's how the whole mess started. The five of us brought in on a trumped up charge to get leaned on by morons. But there's something the cops never figured out. Something that I know now. And that is that these men would never break, never lie down for anybody. _Anybody.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Don't own it.

**Gotham Harbor. Present Day**

The docks were swarming with police trying to get control of the situation. The dead bodies were being rounded up and put in body bags; some were riddled with bullets and some had been burned beyond recognition. The boat was still a smoldering ruin from the explosion and the fire department was desperately trying to put out the fires before the ship sank, while a billowing column of smoke extended towards the sky. It was an even bigger mess than Bane and Killer Croc left on the North Side. A man in a suit surveyed the scene with disbelief as a cop came up to him.

"Sir, this is a crime scene. I'm gonna have to ask you to move along." The cop asid

"I'm FBI." The man said, flashing his badge. "Agent Adam West. How many dead?"

"So far, we've counted fifteen, and we're still pulling bodies out of the water." The cop said.

"Any survivors?" Agent West said, looking down the line of body bags.

"Two." The officer said. "One is in the county hospital in a coma. The other is a cripple, he's down at the DA's office."

"Thanks." The agent said, leaving the scene and driving to Gotham County Hospital. Once there, Agent West and Nurse Vicki Vale walked towards the burn unit and the other survivor of the pier disaster. Suddenly a group of doctors rushed past them, which he guessed meant the man was awake. Nurse Vale stopped a doctor as they got into the unit. "Dr. Thompkins, this is Agent Adam West of the FBI, Agent West, this is Dr. Leslie Thompkins."

"Pleasure to meet you." Dr. Thompkins said distractedly.

"Is he talking yet?" Agent West asked.

"He regained consciousness a few minutes ago. He's delirious. He's been babbling about needing protection." The doctor said as they stepped into the room. Agent West was momentarily stunned at the sight before him. The man was lying on a bed hooked up to all manner of machines, wrapped up in bandages like a mummy. The exposed flesh on his right hand and the left side of his face were badly burned. Agent West could only imagine the pain he was in, but he was lucky to be alive.

"Help me!" The man said desperately. "Are you the cops? I need the police! Hurry and call the police before he finds me! I'll tell them everything, anything! Just call them!"

"Is he going to die?" Agent West asked.

"Well, he's not out of the woods yet, that's for sure." Dr. Thompkins replied.

"PLEASE HELP ME!" The man screamed. "Get the cops! Get security here or something, _please_!"

"I can do that." Agent West answered the man before turning to the doctor. "Get security to put guards on this door before the police arrive."

"Is he dangerous?" Dr. Thompkins asked.

"Yes, extremely." Agent West answered, grabbing his cell phone. "Hello Burgess, it's me, West. I'm at Gotham County. The guy they pulled out of the harbor is Victor Zsaz… Yes I'm sure… Yeah, he's burned all to shit."

"Stop yapping on your fucking cell phone and help me!" The burned thug hollered.

"Quiet, I'm on the phone here!" Agent West said before returning to the call. "Look, he's awake, he's talking…"

"Listen to me! I saw him! I saw the guy who did it!" Zsaz screamed. "You got to get your people here before he does! He's the Devil himself! It's the Joker! Do you hear me?! It's the fucking Joker!"

"Hold on a second, Burgess." That last sentence got Agent West's attention, he turned to Zsaz. "Say that again?"

"The Joker! I said it was the Joker, you dumbass! THE JOKER!" Zsaz screamed desperately.

"Seriously?" Agent West asked. Zsaz nodded furiously. "Burgess, get with Lt. Gordon of the GPD and get some more guys here. This just got a whole lot more interesting."

Meanwhile at the police station, Lt. James Gordon was demanding an explanation from his subordinate, Detective Bullock. Bullock motioned for Gordon to come into his office. Lt. Gordon shook his head as he looked around Bullock's office. If you said it was a complete disaster, you'd be sugar coating it. It was filled with months or maybe years worth of old police paperwork. Even the bulletin board behind the desk was a mess with papers, advertisements, wanted posters, post-its, rap sheets, memos and a couple family photos. Gordon grabbed a pile of paper out of the chair across Bullock's desk and sat down.

"What do you mean I can't talk to him? He's the only one who can give us answers!" Gordon said emphatically.

"I know, Jim, but you can't talk to him!" Bullock said, equally mad and bewildered by the development. "The DA came in here last night ready to arraign before they even moved him to county. Todd's lawyer came in five minutes later and the DA came out looking like he looked into the mouth of Hell and got bitch-slapped by the Devil. They took his statement and they cut him a deal."

"Didn't they charge him with anything?" Gordon asked.

"Yeah. Get this: weapons charge. Misdemeanor two!" Bullock said, still not believing it.

"What?! You're shitting me! What the hell is that?" Gordon asked, incredulous.

"Hey, I give the DA credit for getting _that_ far." Bullock said, shaking his head. "This whole thing has gone freaking political! The Mayor was here last night. Then the Chief, and the Commissioner. Hell, the Governor called this morning! I half expected the President to call in. No way in hell does some nobody cripple have that many friends in high places, unless he sold his soul to Satan or something."

"When does he post bail?" Gordon asked, the wheels in his head turning.

"Two hours, tops." Bullock said, shaking his head.

"I want to see him." Gordon said.

"Jim, even if I let him talk to you, he _wouldn't_ talk to you. He's paranoid about being recorded, and he knows we have the interrogation rooms bugged." Bullock said, lighting a cigarette, which might have been a bad idea in his fire hazard of an office.

"Well, what about somewhere else?" Gordon asked. "A place where talking to him wouldn't be an interrogation, it'd just be a friendly chat to kill time."

"Where?" Bullock asked. Gordon answered by motioning around the office. "No way. No way, Jim."

"If it was a drug deal, where are the drugs? If it was a hit, who called it in? Is it just coincidence that Killer Croc and Bane just happened to start tearing the street apart on the other side of town around the same time this all happened?" Gordon asked rhetorically.

"I bet you have a few theories." Bullock said, knowing Gordon well.

"You know what I think." Gordon said, nodding.

"That's crazy, Jim." Bullock said, putting out his cigarette. "And it don't matter anyway. His story checks out and the DA gave him immunity. He doesn't know what you want to know."

"I don't think he does either, not exactly." Gordon said. "But there's more to his story than he told the DA, and if I can find out what he left out. I want to know why twenty-nine guys died at that pier for 91 million bucks in chemicals that wasn't there. And above all…"

"You want to make sure Harvey Two Face is dead." Bullock finished for him.

"Two hours, just till he makes bail." Gordon pleaded.

"He's dead, Jim. They're all dead. I don't care how tough Two Face was, nobody on that boat could've made it out alive. Hell, even the Batman couldn't have survived it." Bullock said.

"Let's find out." Gordon insisted.

"Oh, fine." Bullock sighed.

So, ten minutes later, Jason Todd sat in Bullock's office waiting for Lt. Gordon to come talk to him. The crippled thief looked around the room, taking in the total chaos of the office. He smiled to himself; apparently neatness wasn't high priority to the Gotham PD.

Meanwhile, outside the office, Gordon was adjusting the hidden microphone in his shirt collar. Across from him, a team of technicians were setting up the recording devices and tapes. They didn't want to miss a second of what Todd had to say. When he was done, he and Bullock walked into the office and addressed Todd in friendly tones.

"Jason Todd, I'm Detective Bullock and this is Lt. Gordon." Bullock said.

"Nice to meet you." Todd said, insincerely.

"Before you go, I'd like to ask you a few questions." Lt. Gordon said, leaning against the desk.

"What about?" Todd asked.

"About Harvey Dent mostly, but I think I'd like to start back at the lineup." Gordon said.

"Could I get some coffee first?" Todd asked, diverting his gaze from Gordon.

"In a while, first I'd like to talk about the lineup." Gordon said dismissively.

"What do you need me to tell you?" Todd asked. "It's all there in my testimony. You know, I'm really thirsty. I used to get scared of dying of dehydration as a kid since I saw this movie about a guy lost in the desert who died of thirst twenty feet from a lake."

"All right, all right. I'll get your fuckin' coffee." Bullock griped as he went for the door.

"Get me one too." Gordon requested just as Bullock was out the door.

"Your friend is tense as hell." Todd observed. "You know, stress will kill you. Back when I lived in Chicago, I was in a church choir. And there was this one guy in it named Tracey Walter, big fat guy, I mean like has-his-own-area-code fat. He was so stressed he had a heart attack during a chorus of Amazing Grace and he..."

"Mr. Todd," Gordon said, interrupting the cripple's ramblings. "You know we're trying to help you, right?"

"Sure, Lt. Gordon, and I appreciate that. And I want to help you too. I like cops. I'd liked to have been the force myself." Todd said, suddenly looking at his bum leg and plastic hand. "Too bad that accident caused this first, huh?"

"Todd, I know you know something that you didn't tell the DA." Gordon said, not wanting to get off the subject.

"Everything I know is in that testimony, like I said before. I don't know what you want me to say." Todd said, shrugging.

"Todd, I know you liked Two Face." Gordon said, getting a little glare from Todd. "I know you think he's a good guy."

"I know he's a good guy." Todd sneered.

"He was a corrupt lawyer and mobster." Gordon said, reminding Todd of Harvey Dent's past crimes.

"Sure, ten years ago, but even as a crook he was still good at what he did." Todd said, half smiling. "Besides, he wanted to go legit, but you guys wouldn't let him!"

"Harvey 'Two Face' Dent is a piece of human shit." Gordon said matter-of-factly.

Todd stared at the cop before him for a minute, his face not betraying a hint of hostility. "Are you trying to piss me off, Lt. Gordon?"

"I just want to hear your side of the story, that's all." Gordon replied, backing off.

"Well, it's all right there." Todd said, pointing to the folder with the transcript of his testimony.

"Yeah, and according to your statement, you're a con man." Gordon said, looking over the file. "Run of the mill scams and confidence jobs. Says you even made the old scam of selling Brooklyn Bridge work once."

"I still can't believe that worked." Todd said, grinning. "Still, all that stuff's inadmissible, the DA had is suppressed."

"I know. Really sweet deal you got." Gordon said impressed. "Total immunity."

"Well, I still have the weapons charge. I'm looking at six whole months hard time. I'm worried sick about it" Todd said, sardonically.

"Have you ever heard of a drug dealer called Arnold Stromwell?" Gordon asked.

"You ever hear of an old guy in a red suit called Claus?" Todd asked in rebuttal.

"Stromwell's in the state pen, you know." Gordon said.

"He didn't have my lawyer." Todd said smugly.

"I know Mr. Stromwell. He's big on respect. Likes me a lot." Gordon said, looking very threatening even as he smiled. "I know your testimony is sealed, but what do you think he would say if he found out you dropped his name to the DA? He's a well connected guy, got a lot of friends on the inside."

"What? I never said anything about him in there!" Todd protested.

"I'll be sure to mention that to him." Gordon said, standing up. He started pacing the room, circling Todd like a snake surrounding its prey. "First day on the job, do you know what I learned?"

"The best donut shops?" Todd asked sarcastically.

"No, how to spot a murderer." Gordon said, his voice devoid of the friendly tone from earlier. "Let's say I arrested three guys for the same murder, and put them all in jail overnight. Who did it?"

"Beats the fuck out of me." Todd said, shaking his head.

"The guy who I find sleeping did it." Gordon said, getting a confused look from Todd. "See, if you're guilty, you know you're caught, you let your guard down and get some rest."

"Ah, while the two innocent guys are so afraid they'll get convicted of a crime they didn't commit, they stay up all night out of fear." Todd said, catching on. "Very clever."

"I'll get right to the point, Todd." Gordon said, getting right in his face. "I'm smarter than you. You're going to tell me what I want to know, whether you like it or not."

Gordon had intimidated Todd, but the cripple manages to say defiantly, "I'm not a rat."

Suddenly, the door opened and Bullock came in holding three mugs of coffee. He handed one to Gordon, then to Todd and sat down with his own. "Now that we got the damn coffee, can we get down to it?"

"Sure." Todd said, sipping his coffee. "You know, when I was working at a Starbucks back in Metropolis, I got free coffee. Those guys made fuckin' great coffee. This stuff is crap, but hey, beggars can't be choosers."

"Can we get started again?" Bullock said, rolling his eyes at the thief's complaining.

"Good idea." Gordon said, taking a sip of his own coffee. "Now, Todd, what happened at the line up?"

Todd looked up at Gordon, and sighed. "Well…"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

**Gotham Police Station. 6 Weeks Ago.**

Harvey Two Face and Rachel Dawes walked down the steps of the police station, Dent had resigned himself to the situation, but his fiancée was furious. "The sergeant at the desk actually tried to tell me he couldn't release you! Can you believe that? You weren't even charged. Gotham police! I want to take pictures of your face to bring to the DA first thing in the morning."

"Oh, great idea, Rache. Like seeing my ugly mug will do anything." Dent said sarcastically. "Just forget about it."

"I will not, Harvey!" Rachel said angrily. "I'll have this in front of the grand jury by Monday."

"Rachel, please. I don't want to talk about this right now." Two Face said, wirily. He looked around the street and saw the Riddler and Penguin standing by a newsstand, across from them was Scarecrow trying to flag down a cab, and by the entrance to the subway was Jason Todd. All four were looking at him.

"Harv, please don't give up. We've still got your campaign…" Rachel tried to say, but Dent wouldn't have any of it.

"What campaign? Look at me, Rache, I'm a freak! I'm a scarred up ex-con, who in their right mind would vote for me after everything I've done? I'm never going to outrun my past. I've done too much, I've burned too many bridges. I'm ruined Rachel." Two Face asked angrily. The young brunette just looked at her fiancé heartbroken at his despair.

"I love you." Rachel said, but it didn't snap him out of his trance. So, she said it again with more force. "I. Love. You."

This time, it got his attention. He looked at her and his anger left him. "I love you too."

The two of them embraced, a simple gesture, but it had a lot of significance for Two Face. Not many people in the world would be able to touch, let alone love a man as disfigured as him. She was one in a million.

"Look, let's just go back to the room and get some rest." Rachel said. "We'll worry about tomorrow when tomorrow gets here."

"Best idea I've heard all night." Harvey said, smiling. He and Rachel started walking off, but Harvey glanced Todd still looking after them from the corner.

_Riddler's plan was daring; a fast jump, high risk, big money job. We all knew it could be done. The way I figured it, to do it wrong meant killing people. We needed five guys to do it right. Five guys meant Harvey had to be in on it. I was going to have to convince him._

Later at Rachel's apartment, Two Face sat in the living room nursing a Scotch. He and Rachel had gone to bed hours ago, but he couldn't sleep. His mind was consumed with the incident earlier, so he left Rachel to her dreams and helped himself to the liquor cabinet. Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Two Face set down his drink and went to the door, hoping the sound hadn't woken his fiancée. He went to the door and looked through the peephole, on the other side of the door was the cripple, Jason Todd.

Two Face opened the door and demanded in a hushed voice, "What the hell are you doing here?! How did you find out where I lived?"

"I asked one of the detectives downtown and they were just happy to tell me." Todd said shrugging.

Two Face grabbed Todd's jacket and pulled him inside and slammed him against the wall. "Listen you little rat, I don't know what you came here for…"

"It's about the job the Riddler was talking about." Todd said, before Two Face clamped a hand over his mouth.

"Shhh, keep your voice down! Rachel's asleep. If you wake her up I'll break your other leg." Two Face said dangerously.

"OK, OK, sorry." Todd said meekly. "But the job…"

"Look, Todd, I did a favor by standing up for you earlier, but that doesn't mean we're friends." Two Face said angrily. "Now get out of here!"

"But the job is gonna be worth 3 million, maybe more!" Todd spat out, desperate to keep Dent from throwing him out. It worked, Two Face hesitated at the prospect of that much money. Two Face let go of Todd's jacket and stepped back. He reached into his pants and pulled out a silver dollar.

"Call it." Two Face ordered as he flipped the coin and caught it in his palm.

"Uh… heads?" Todd asked. Two Face revealed the coin, it had landed heads.

"You have five minutes." Two Face said, pocketing the coin.

"They sent me to offer you a cut of the heist. We need a fifth guy, a wheelman. That's all you have to do, just drive and the four of us will do the rest." Todd said desperate to convince the former DA.

"What's the target?" Two Face asked, not sounding interested.

"Gotham's Finest Taxi Service." Todd said, which made Two Face's eyes widen.

"That's bullshit." Two Face said, stalking towards the cripple. "They don't operate anymore since Batman showed up."

"The Riddler has a contact in the Fourteenth Precinct, they're coming out for one job on Saturday." Todd explained. "They're picking up this guy smuggling diamonds out of Brazil. And the guys going out are Flass and Eckhardt, the guys from the interrogation. Figured it'd be the perfect payback. Riddler already has the fence set up."

"Who's the fence?" Two Face demanded.

"Some guy in Metropolis, he said his name was Jericho." Todd explained.

"Never heard of him." Two Face said suspiciously. "Time's up."

"Please!" Todd pleaded. "You have to come!"

"Why the hell is it so important to you if I'm in or out?" Two Face asked angrily.

"Because… because they don't know me, you do." Todd explained. "They won't let me in on the job without you. Look at me, man. I need this!"

Two Face studied Todd for a moment, and then said dismissively, "Tough shit, Todd."

"Oh and you're gonna stand there and tell me you _don't_ need this? Is this your place?" Todd demanded. Two Face didn't answer. "Look, I'm not knocking you, you seem like you got a nice scam going… Oof!"

Two Face punched the crippled man in the gut for that comment. He hadn't meant to, it was reflex. He led Todd to a chair and let him catch his breath. "I'm sorry I did that."

"It's OK. You say it's the real thing, fine. I hope you both live happily ever after." Todd said, waving it off. "But, the other stuff is true. Look, as clean as you get, the cops will never stop riding you and you know it."

Two Face couldn't deny that. "How do they want to do it?"

"Riddler wants to go in guns blazing. Penguin and Scarecrow are so pissed that they're up for anything." Todd explained. "I got an idea on how to do it without killing anybody, but like I told you, I need you in it."

Two Face was silent for a minute; he'd worked so hard trying to go straight and then this happened. Was it worth it? Was revenge and the kind of money Todd was talking about worth it after how far he'd come? He pulled out the silver dollar again. He flipped it, watching it turn over and over in the air and landing in his hand. Todd couldn't see what it had landed on, but Dent was staring intently at the coin. He closed his eyes and resigned himself to his fate. "You're sure it's 3 million?"

"Maybe more." Todd said, not betraying the smile forming in his mind.

"And nobody gets killed?" Two Face asked again.

"No, not if we do it my way." Todd replied. He didn't see the coin, but it didn't matter, he knew what it had landed on. Two Face was in.

**Saturday Morning. Gotham International Airport**

The driver of a white van watched as a balding man with a ventriloquist dummy dressed as a gangster walked out of the airport entrance towards a police car. He was Arnold "The Ventriloquist" Wesker, a known smuggler with multiple personality disorder. Inside the car he could make out the two cops inside. Lt. Eckhardt and Lt. Flass, the two corrupt slobs who lorded it over them at the line up. The man opened the back door and climbed in. The patrol car started up and drove off, the white van following it.

_Gotham's Finest Taxi Service wasn't your average taxi service. __It was a ring of corrupt cops in the GPD that ran a high-profit racket, driving smugglers and drug dealers all over the city. For a few hundred dollars a mile, you got your very own police escort. After the Batman showed up on the scene, corrupt officers in the police department got scared and the taxi service shut down. Ever since then, Internal Affairs had been waiting to catch them in the act. And we figured, as concerned citizens, we should do something to help. Riddler came to us with the job, Scarecrow got the guns, Penguin supplied the vans, and I came through with a plan to do it so nobody got killed. But Harvey? Harvey put on the finishing touch. A little 'fuck you' from the five of us to the Gotham Police Department._

Inside the police cruiser, the Ventriloquist admired the scenery. Lt. Flass looked back and addressed the smuggler. "How was your flight Wesker?"

"What the fuck are you asking him for?" The gangster dummy demanded. "He's just my toady. You want answers, talk to me!"

Flass was speechless for a minute; he had forgotten this guy had multiple personalities, so he turned and addressed the dummy. "Sorry Mr. Scarface, how was your flight?"

"Oh it was fucking perfect!" Scarface said sarcastically. "Those morons wouldn't take my ticket! I had to sit on this dummy's lap the whole flight! Bastards."

"Sorry to hear that." Eckhardt said, keeping his eyes on the road so the Ventriloquist couldn't see him trying not to laugh.

"Well, give them the money, Dummy!" Scarface ordered Wesker.

"Oh yes, of course, Mr. Scarface." The Ventriloquist said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out an envelope full of bills. "Will this get us to the East side?"

"Are you kidding?" Flass said, counting the money. "This'll get you all the way to Albuquerque."

The police car drove through Gotham, blissfully unaware they were walking into a trap. The car pulled down an old street passing through the Narrows, the white van close behind. They were going down an old empty street when suddenly a van pulled out infront of them and stopped. Eckhardt hit the brakes and stopped just short of rear-ending the van. The white van behind them didn't stop as shortly, it rammed them as two more vans pulled on either side of the cruiser. Flass looked out his window to find an umbrella with a gun barrel pointed at his face being held by a fat man in a top hat. Eckhardt looked out his window to find a man dressed as a scarecrow aiming a shotgun at his head.

"DON'T MOVE!" Scarecrow ordered.

"DON'T EVEN THINK OF REACHING FOR A GUN!" Penguin ordered. The Riddler jumped out of the rear van in his green, question mark laden suit with a sledgehammer and a gallon jug in his hands.

"What the fuck, are you guys crazy?!" Eckhardt cried. The Riddler jumped onto the roof of the police car and raised a sledgehammer.

"WE'RE COPS YOU ASSHOLES!" Flass screamed. The backdoor of the van in front of the cruiser flew open to reveal Todd wearing a red stocking hood, sitting in the van and aiming a submachine gun at the cops. Two Face looked back from the driver's seat to Todd sitting there with the gun. He allowed himself a smile as Riddler prepared to use the sledgehammer.

"Riddle me this: what do you call two fat, dirty cops stuck in a dented car?" The Riddler asked, swinging the sledgehammer into the windshield. The men inside covered their faces as the glass flew everywhere. He bashed it in until there was nothing left but a few strands of glass hanging. The Riddler jumped onto the hood and aimed a gun at the cops. "The answer: canned ham! Now hand over the merchandise!"

"Give it to him!" Flass ordered, terrified.

"You heard him, hand it over!" Penguin ordered.

"Not a chance, asshole!" the Scarface dummy snarled.

"It's in the dummy, isn't it?" Riddler asked, grinning.

"Like I'd trust it with this idiot!" Scarface said gesturing to Wesker. The Riddler responded by grabbing Scarface out of the Ventriloquist's hands.

"Mr. Scarface, no!" the Ventriloquist cried. The Riddler took Scarface and tucked him under his arm.

"Now give me the money!" Riddler ordered. The greedy cops looked at each other doubtfully, not wanting o get out of this empty handed. Riddler stuck the barrel of his gun right between Eckhardt's eyes. "Now!"

"GIVE HIM THE MONEY!" Eckhrdt cried in terror. Flass held out the envelope of cash and the Riddler snatched it up. Eckhardt was furious. "You bastards! Do you know who I am?! DO YOU KNOW WHO THE FUCK I AM?!

The Scarecrow suddenly grabbed Eckhardt's badge and ripped it off his shirt. "We do now!"

The Riddler jumped up onto the roof of the car again and poured out the liquid until the car was drenched. The cops and the Ventriloquist knew by the smell that the stuff was gas. The Riddler was laughing like a maniac as he ran off the car. "Hey Penguin, what can never drink water without dying?"

"Why, fire of course!" Penguin said, switching on the flamethrower in his umbrella and lighting the police car on fire. Riddler ran back to his van and the four vans sped away. The two cops and the Ventriloquist leapt from the car in terror seconds before it exploded. Later on, the place was a swarming with cop cars, fire trucks, reporters and photographers.

_Harvey made an anonymous tip to the press and reporters got to the scene before the police did. Eckhardt and Flass were indicted by Monday, and within a few weeks almost fifty more cops went down with them. Everybody got it right in the ass, from the chief on down. It was fucking great! _

At the Riddler's hideout, the five criminals were enjoying their victory. The dummy lay discarded on the floor after Riddler tore out the package containing the diamonds. Riddler opened the package and laid out the emeralds on a table, the stones shined like little stars on the black tabletop. The five of them surveyed their haul in glee as they remembered the heist.

"Did you see those cops scream?" Riddler laughed as he inspected the stones. "I bet they wet their pants!"

"Indeed, it was most gratifying." The Penguin said, twirling his umbrella. "Imagine, a group of master criminals taking down police corruption. Deliciously ironic, is it not?"

"Yeah." Todd said, laughing. "And nice souvenir, Scarecrow."

"Well, I did tell that bastard I'd have his badge." Scarecrow laughed, holding Eckhardt's badge up as a trophy.

"There's more here than I thought." Riddler said, inspecting one of the jewels.

"When's the fence getting here?" Scarecrow asked, looking back at the door half expecting for him to walk in any minute.

"Oh, Jericho's not coming here." Riddler said, which got the attention of Two Face, Todd and Scarecrow. "He never comes to me, I have to go see him."

"Wait, you're going to Metropolis?" Scarecrow asked suspiciously.

"Yeah, me and Penguin will fly over there and be back in a couple days with the cash." Riddler said, his attention still on the diamonds.

"No, no, no, no, no way. We're all going." Scarecrow said heatedly as he stood up.

"What's the matter with you, Scarecrow?" The Penguin asked, also standing.

"The matter is I don't like the idea of you and Quiz Boy here taking the loot and leave me, Two Face and Todd sitting with our thumbs up our asses." Scarecrow said.

"You don't trust us?" Riddler asked, feigning shock.

"Not as far as I could kick you." Scarecrow said dangerously.

"All right, all right!" Two Face said, stepping between the two men. "We're all going. We need a place to lay low any way; Metropolis is as good a place as any. Now, both of you back off."

"It's settled then." Penguin said, walking over to the fridge. He opened the door to reveal several bottles of beer. "Don't you have any champagne, Edward?"

"Nah, but if you want I can go get some box wine." Riddler said sarcastically.

"How droll. Well, at least it's imported." Penguin said, taking the beers from the fridge. He passed the drinks to the others and when he finally came to Jason Todd, he raised his bottle. "I purpose a toast. To Mr. Todd and his master plan."

"Hear, hear!" Riddler said, raising his brew and clinking bottles with Scarecrow. Two Face raised his bottle in mock salute to Todd. The crippled man felt ten feet tall.

The next day, Todd sat in the lobby of the courthouse the as Dent paced the length of the room waiting for court to be let out. Harvey wanted to say goodbye to Rachel before the five of them left for Metropolis, but she was involved in some big case and the proceedings was taking longer than expected.

"We're gonna miss the plane." Todd said, wishing he had said it in a less nagging tone.

"We will make the plane." Harvey said.

"Don't do this, Harv. Leave her a note or something." Todd said, trying to reason with him.

"I told you, we'll make the plane." Dent said adamantly.

Just then, the courtroom doors opened and a sea of humanity came pouring out. Dent saw Rachel right n the midst of it, the smile on her face telling him that she'd accomplished what she wanted in the case. That smile was the beacon of light in his dark world, it caused a small tear to run down his scared cheek. But she didn't even see him or Todd standing there because the press rushed for her statement. Dent couldn't bring himself to do it, he turned and walked out with Todd. Rachel suddenly looked over to where Harvey and Todd were just standing, but there was nobody there.

**Present Day. Bullock's Office**

"Heart warming, it should be a movie." Bullock said sarcastically. "I'm gonna leave you two alone for a while, cause frankly the bullshit's getting too high in here."

"What? You wanted to know what happened after the line up, this is it!" Todd said defensively.

"Oh come on, Todd. Who do you think you're fooling?" Gordon asked, not believing the story for a minute. "You really expect me to believe he retired for some girl? That's bull. He _used_ her."

"No, he didn't, he loved her!" Todd insisted.

"Yeah right. And you also expect me to believe that hitting the Taxi Service wasn't Dent's idea?" Gordon asked.

"What, no it was the Riddler's idea, like I said." Todd said, surprised at the lieutenant's accusation.

"Oh please!" Gordon said, rolling his eyes. "Two Face worked with the Gotham PD for years on cases. Who else would know about the Taxi Service? That job sounds more like his type of heist than Riddler's. If he planned it he would've done some of his stupid question and answer shit."

"What do you want me to say, Lt. Gordon?" Todd asked. "You keep trying to blame this whole thing on Harvey, but that's not what happened. I don't know if he knew or not, but it didn't matter. Rachel had him on the straight and narrow, I swear."

"Todd… may I call you Jason?" Gordon asked. Todd nodded and he continued. "Jason, let me tell you about Harvey Dent. He's not Harvey Dent anymore. He's Two Face, and Two Face is a cold-blooded bastard. He was indicted for ten counts of robbery, seven assaults and three counts of murder. So don't sell me this _Beauty & The Beast_ fantasy crap."

"You don't know him. You got him all wrong." Todd protested.

"I knew him for years, even before he was the District Attorney. He used to be my friend. We went out for drinks, we went fishing, and we put away a lot of bad guys together. When Sal Marone had him disfigured, the man I knew was gone. So don't tell me I don't know him, Jason." Gordon said angrily.

"Sorry." Todd said, looking chastised.

"Two Face was under indictment a total of twenty two times and in every case, the witnesses either reversed their testimony or died before they could testify. When we finally nailed him for the robbery of the mint, he spent five years in Arkham. He killed three inmates inside. Of course, I can't prove this. And I can't prove the best part either. Two Face died." Gordon said, getting a shocked expression on Todd's face.

"Huh?" Todd asked confused.

"Yep, dead. He died in a fire two years ago during an investigation of the murder of one of the dead witnesses. Two people saw him enter a club he owned, the Yin Yang, just before it exploded. They said he went in to check a gas leak in the basement. It blew up and took Two Face with it. The two witnesses turned up dead within a month of the explosion, both apparently suicides."

"No way." Todd said quietly.

"Yep. Six weeks ago I got an anonymous call that I could find Two Face at the Gilded Truffle with his lawyer Rachel Dawes. I go there and sure enough, he's there. We arrested him, but we had to let him go. He never made any money on the alleged death and we convicted somebody else for the murder we tried to pin on him. He was dead just long enough for the murder rap to blow over and then he went on a freaking date."

"I don't know anything about any of that stuff." Todd said shaking his head.

"I don't think you do. But you say you saw Two Face die and I don't buy it. I think you're covering for him and he's still out there somewhere. I bet that whole fiasco at the harbor was his work. He's using you because you're stupid and you think he's your friend." Gordon said, getting right in Todd's face. "You tell me he's dead, fine. I want to make damn sure."

"He wasn't behind anything, it was the lawyer!" Todd blurted out. The cripple's eyes widened at the admission and he clapped his one good hand and his plastic hand over his mouth.

"What lawyer?" Gordon asked, interested.

"Uh… You… you know, back when I was in my church choir I…" Todd said trying to change the subject. He was silenced when Gordon grabbed his shirt collar and gave him a shake.

"You don't think I know you held out on the DA?" Gordon barked. "What did you leave out of that testimony? I could be on the phone to Arnold Stromwell in five minutes!"

"The DA gave me immunity!" Todd protested.

"The DA gave you immunity from being prosecuted, but not from me." Gordon said, his voice now a deadly whisper. "You tell me what I want to know or you're life will go down the tubes so fast your head will fucking spin. Every crook I collar, every cop who owes me a favor, every single scumbag that works the streets for a living will know the name Jason Todd and how big of a snitch he is. That precious immunity won't be good for anything but toilet paper. You want a contract out on your head? Then tell me what I want to know."

"OK! OK." Todd said, panicking. Gordon let go and Todd sagged into his seat, rubbing his neck with his only hand. "There was this lawyer. Cunningham."

"Is he the one who killed Two Face?" Gordon asked.

"No, but I know he's dead!" Todd said exasperatedly.

"Convince me." Gordon said, sitting down again. "Tell me every last detail."

Meanwhile at the hospital, the burn ward was filling up. Agent West had brought in a sketch artist named Tracy Fitzgerald, and his superior Agent Burgess Meredith.

"Agent West this is getting out of hand." Dr. Thompkins protested.

"I promise Doctor, we'll be out of here soon, but we need to do this now." Agent West said turning to Agent Meredith. "Burgess, I wouldn't have called you if it wasn't important."

"Fine, Adam, then tell me, what's this all about?" Agent Meredith asked.

"Agent Meredith, this is Mr. Zsaz." Agent West said. "Mr. Zsaz.

"Hi, nice to meet you." Zsaz said sarcastically.

"Tell him what happened in the harbor." Agent West ordered.

"A fucking massacre." Zsaz said. "We were there to buy…"

"Chemicals and drugs, yeah we know." Agent West finished for him.

"What?" Zsaz asked, confused. "No, no, no, we weren't there for that."

"You weren't?" Agent Meredith asked.

"No, we were supposed to buy some guy." Zsaz explained.

"You were buying a person? Who?" Agent West asked.

"I don't know his name. The Boss didn't tell us who he was or why we were buying him, just that it was important for the future of the organization." Zsaz said.

"Tell us more." Agent West said, stepping towards the bed.

"I'll tell you everything, but I need guarantees." Zsaz said desperately. "I need protection."

"Fine, you'll get protection." Agent West responded, but that only agitated Zsaz.

"No, you dipshit, I mean real guarantees!" Zsaz yelled. "This isn't some mobster I need protection from, it's the goddamn Devil himself! I saw him, I looked him in the eye!"

"He's crazy." Agent Meredith said rolling his eyes.

"No, he's not." Agent West said, holding Agent Meredith's shoulder. "Mr. Zsaz, who's this devil you keep referring to?"

"I told you before, it was the Joker!" Zsaz said exasperated.

"The Joker?" Agent Meredith asked, stupefied.

"Yes, the Joker! He was there last night, killing anything that moved." Zsaz said, shaking at the memory of it.

"You saw the Joker?" Agent Meredith asked trying to comprehend it himself.

"Yes. I saw his face. That… that evil smile. I see it whenever I close my eyes." Zsaz said, his voice choked with fear.

"Mr. Zsaz, this young lady is a sketch artist from County." Agent West said, gesturing to Tracy. "Describe to her what the Joker looks like. Get ready, Miss Fitzgerald."

"All right, all right." Zsaz said settling down. "He has white skin…"


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

**Metropolis. Five Weeks Ago.**

It was sunrise in Metropolis. Birds were singing, the black night sky was slowly slipping into blue, and a group of criminals sat waiting for the fence to arrive. The place for the rendezvous was a parking lot behind an old burned out K-Mart. The five of them just stood there waiting, passing the time the best they knew how. Two Face flipped his coin, Riddler was flipping through a book of brain teasers, Penguin admired the birds in the area, Scarecrow was making a list of possible scare tactics on a notepad, and Jason Todd just leaned against the car humming a song.

Suddenly they heard the sound of a car approaching. They looked up to see a lime green Lincoln pull into the lot. Riddler smiled. "There he is."

_We arrived in Metropolis and met Riddler's fence, this guy Jericho. He had a good reputation. Seemed like a good guy. We should've known better._

"That is the ugliest car I've ever seen." Scarecrow said.

"No accounting for taste." Riddler mumbled. "Now, when you talk to Jericho, be sure to speak up. He's deaf in one ear."

The doors of the Lincoln opened and several men stepped out. The man who stepped out of the driver's seat walked ahead of the others. He looked around at each of the five men, which then noticed his hearing aid and identified him as Jericho. He extended a hand to Riddler who shook it firmly. "How are you Eddy?"

"Not bad, man, not bad." Riddler said smiling. "You got the cash?"

"Depends, you got the merchandise?" Jericho joked. Riddler pulled out a briefcase and opened it to reveal the plethora of gems. "Sweet. Give it to 'em."

Two of Jericho's thugs stepped forward and held out two more briefcases. They opened them to reveal stacks of money. Riddler closed the case and handed it to Jericho and took the cases from his henchmen. Riddler grinned as he held the cases in his hands. "Pleasure doing business with you."

"And you, Eddy." Jericho said, smiling. He the diverted his gaze to the rest of the gang. "How you doin' Penguin?"

"Same as always, Jericho." Penguin said pleasantly.

"That bad, huh?" Jericho asked, laughing. "Ah, you must be the infamous Two Face."

"Oh, sorry." Riddler said, realizing he didn't introduce everyone. "Jericho, this is Harvey 'Two Face' Dent, Dr. John 'Scarecrow' Crane, and Jason Todd."

"Jason, the man with the plan." Jericho said, giving the cripple a thumbs up. "So, you guys aren't interested in doing anymore work, are ya?"

"Actually," Two Face answered, cutting off Riddler before he could respond. "We're just here on vacation."

"You sure?" Jericho asked, not convinced. "I got a lot of work to do and not enough guys to get it al done."

"What did you have in mind?" Riddler asked, after shooting a dirty look at Two Face.

"There's this jeweler out of Las Vegas named Kane." Jericho elaborated. "He rents a suite at the Cat's Eye Hotel down town and he does free appraisals on jewelry. Buys whatever he can. Word is he carries a lot of cash with him. I figure you guys keep the money and I keep the merchandise."

"What about security?" Scarecrow asked, joining the conversation.

"Two bodyguards to protect the jewels, nothing you couldn't handle." Jericho said.

"Give us a time to check it out?" Riddler asked.

"I wouldn't expect any less from you guys." Jericho said smiling.

"We'll call you." Riddler said, smiling too.

"Take your time, Eddy." Jericho said. "Enjoy Metropolis. Just watch out for that pretty boy with the big 'S' on his chest flying all over the place."

"Hey." Two Face said as Jericho was turning to leave. "Riddler said you knew Jarvis Tetch."

"Yeah, me and the Mad Hatter go way back." Jericho said, fondness in his voice. "His mind control cards came in handy with keeping the cops off my dope deals. I heard somebody straggled him in jail."

"Yeah… I killed him." Two Face said matter-of-factly. "Better you hear it from me now then from somebody else later."

"Was it business or personal?" Jericho asked, his voice an octave lower.

"A little from column A and a little from column B." Two Face said. The two men stared at each other for a minute, the others stepped in closer in case a fight broke out. Jericho suddenly just smiled and backed off.

"Well, what's past is past. Call me if you're interested." Jericho said, turning and walking towards his car followed by his men.

"What's your problem, Two Face?" Riddler asked, annoyed.

"One job. That was the deal, that's it." Two Face said adamantly.

"Well, take life as it comes, man." Riddler said. "Besides, it's a second job, aren't you big on doing things in twos?"

"Fuck off." Two Face said, walking back to the car.

_Harvey fought it, he really did, but a man can't change who he is. He can convince everyone else he's somebody else, but never himself. In the end, it took one full day of the others' nagging and a flip of his coin, and we went back to work._

It was around 8:00 pm in the parking garage of the Cat's Eye Hotel that Kane and his guards exited the elevator and headed to their car. Bale was an older man, heavyset and dressed in a 500 suit carrying an aluminum briefcase. They had no clue that five sets of eyes were watching their every move. The Riddler stood by the car parked next to Bale's, he had the hood open and appeared to be checking out the engine. Scarecrow and Two Face watched from the van that slowly came down the garage. Penguin and Todd were walking down the garage, dressed as tourists. Kane and his men easily overlooked all of them.

"So, the guy runs out into the street naked, right? And he runs into this cop and the cop says… FREEZE!" Todd said, pulling out his gun. Penguin pointed his umbrella at the bodyguards who raised their hands in surrender. Riddler pulled out the gun he'd hidden in the engine and joined Todd and Penguin in holding the guards at bay. Kane sprinted to the car and jumped in trying to make a getaway. The van sped up and skidded to a halt right behind Kane's car, blocking it in. Two Face and Scarecrow jumped out of the van as Penguin relieved the bodyguards of their guns. Scarecrow went to help Penguin remove the guards' guns. Two Face, armed with a crowbar marched to Kane's car, stopping at the driver's side window. He swung the crowbar into the window, sending bits of glass all over Kane.

"Give me the case. Give me the fucking case now!" Two Face barked, pointing his gun at Kane's head.

"OK! OK!" Kane said meekly. He turned and appeared to reach for the case, only to pull out a gun. Two Face sidestepped and grabbed Kane's wrist in a struggle to get the gun away from him. The struggle ended up causing the gun to fire into the car Riddler was "working on" and made the alarm go off. The formerly silent garage was now filled with the blaring sound of the car alarm, which was all the distraction Kane's men needed. They seized Riddler and Penguin and they began their own battle for weapons.

"Riddler! Penguin! Hold your breath!" Scarecrow shouted, pulling out a small gas grenade. He tossed it towards the struggle and it released his patented fear toxin into the air. Unfortunately, it just made the situation worse. They were now actively beating his comrades up out of hysterical fear and screaming at the top of their lungs.

"Nice going, Scarecrow!" Two Face shouted angrily. The struggle with Kane ended when Two Face snapped his elbow and the gun fell to the ground. Kane's screams of pain now joined his bodyguards' screams of terror.

Two Face kicked the gun over to Scarecrow. He picked it up and aimed it and his own gun at the hysterical bodyguards. It was a very difficult shot, the four men kept moving in and out of the line of fire. If Scarecrow missed, Riddler or Penguin would get shot. Finally, he took a breath and fired both guns simultaneously.

**BANG!**

Direct hit. The two bodyguards were hit in the head and slumped to the ground, but the garage was still filled with Kane's agonized screams.

"SHUT UP AND GIVE ME THE CASE!" Two Face ordered, but Kane couldn't hear him. The man just screamed and held his broken arm. Two Face raised his gun and aimed it at Kane's head, his hand trembling, not knowing if he could do it or not.

**BANG!**

He was saved the trouble as a shot rang through the air and a bullet hole appeared on Kane's face. Two Face was shocked, as were the others. They turned and saw Todd holding the smoking gun, shaking like a leaf.

"I… I… I had to stop his screaming." Todd said, his voice shaking.

"Let's get out of here!" Scarecrow said, jumping into the van. Two Face reached into the car and grabbed Kane's brief case and ran to the van. The five of them piled into the van and it sped out of there like a bat out of Hell.

"Fuck!" Two Face said as the van came to a halt after they pulled into their hotel parking lot. "That was just fucking perfect!"

"Hey, it's not my fault!" Riddler said angrily. "You're the one who shot the car and made the alarm go off!"

"No, that was Kane!" Two Face growled.

"At least Two Face didn't exacerbate the situation by throwing fear gas at the men who were accosting us." Penguin said, giving Scarecrow the evil eye.

"Well it seemed like a good idea at the time!" Scarecrow said defensively.

"Tell that to my concussion." Riddler said.

"Fine, I'm sorry! Happy?" Scarecrow said exasperated.

"No, I'm not happy!" Two Face said furiously. "Just get that case open so we can get to the drop off and be done with this shit!"

"Very well." Penguin said, pulling out his umbrella. He switched it from gun mode to lock pick mode and began undoing the lock on the briefcase. It took a few minutes, but he got it open. "Now, let's see what we have here… uh oh."

"'Uh oh'? What do you mean, 'Uh oh'?" Todd asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.

"Um, I think we're in trouble, gentlemen." Penguin said, turning the case around so the rest of the group could see it. There was no money or jewels. The only thing in the case was several plastic bags of cocaine.

"We just robbed a drug dealer." Riddler said, shutting his eyes in dread.

"We just _killed_ a drug dealer." Todd said shaking.

"We're fucked." Two Face said, hitting the steering wheel.

"Riddler, call Jericho. We need an explanation." Penguin said, still staring at the case of drugs.

That night, they went back to the same burnt out store to wait for Jericho. Riddler was incensed, he cocked his gun as he saw Jericho's car drive up. Two Face noticed and grabbed his arm. "What do you think you're doing?"

"What's it look like, I'm going to kill him." Riddler replied furiously.

"No. You kill him and it'll just make this mess worse. We did it your way, no we're doing it mine." Two Face said getting in Riddler's face.

"Oh, so you're gonna kill him?" Riddler asked.

"I'll deal with him, just back off." Two Face ordered.

Jericho and his men exited the car, and the gang noticed that he'd brought a couple more guys this time. There was a look of amusement on Jericho's face, which made them think he had known about the drugs from the start. Jericho asked as he lit a cigarette, "Is there a problem boys?"

"Yeah, what are we supposed to do with this?" Riddler asked, tossing a bag of coke at Jericho.

"I don't know. Have a party and get high? I don't know what that is." Jericho said.

"That's crap." Riddler said.

"What do you mean you don't know?" Two Face demanded.

"I got thrown this job by some lawyer." Jericho explained.

"What lawyer? Who?" Two Face asked.

"I don't know, some old guy. He's a middleman for somebody. He doesn't say, I don't ask." Jericho elaborated, taking a drag from his cigarette.

"You're so full of it." Riddler said angrily.

"We want to meet this guy." Two Face said, giving Riddler a warning glance.

"Actually, he called me earlier, he wants to meet with _you_." Jericho said, surprising the five men.

"Fine, call him and set up a meeting." Two Face said, turning away.

"I don't like it, Two Face." Riddler said, then he turned to Jericho. "One more thing, any more surprises and you're a dead man."

"Eddy, do me a favor and get off my ass." Jericho said, flicking his cigarette right into Riddler's eye. Riddler recovered and pulled out his gun. Jericho's thugs pulled out their guns and took aim at Riddler, which prompted Scarecrow, Todd and Penguin to pull out their guns as Two Face held Riddler back There was a tense little stand off, but when Riddler backed off, they all lowered their weapons.

"Fine! I'm fine." Riddler said, sounding anything but fine.

"You know, it's a shame about Kane's sudden death. Real tragedy. The cops are gonna be looking for the guys who killed him soon. Eventually, they'll come around to asking me. I wonder what I'll say." Jericho said, and the gang knew that wasn't an idle threat. He and his men drove off leaving the five Gotham criminals to seethe.

**Present Day. Bullock's Office. **

"So, this lawyer…" Gordon asked.

"Cunningham." Todd supplied.

"… came from Jericho." Gordon finished.

"Yep." Todd nodded.

"So, why didn't you mention this to the DA?" Gordon asked. Before Todd could answer, there was a knock on the door.

Bullock stuck his head in the door and said, "Somebody here to see you, Gordon."

"I'll be right back." Gordon said to Todd. Gordon left Todd in the office. He and Bullock turned a corner and Gordon smiled as he saw Agent West. "Hey Adam, how are ya?"

"Good, Jim. I've been looking all over for you." Agent West said, shaking Lt. Gordon's hand. "Are you stil looking into the chemicals that were missing from that fiasco in the harbor?"

"Yeah, I'm working on it." Gordon said.

"Well, you can stop working." Agent West said, which got confused looks from Gordon and Bullock. "There were no chemicals on that boat."

"What?" Bullock asked.

"I got another guy at Gotham County who survived the explosion." Agent West explained. "He's one of Marone's men. He says Marone was there to deal with Rupert Thorne, but they were definitely not there for drugs."

"But the money…" Gordon asked.

"I know, but the guy said no chemicals." Agent West went on. "They were planning on flying out of town within the hour of the deal. That's not nearly enough time to negotiate that kind of product let alone move it."

"Then what was the money for?" Gordon asked.

"I have no idea. Neither does the guy we picked up, he says only Sal Marone, Rupert Thorne and a few other key people knew, but beyond that it was top secret. Whatever it was, it's big."

"What the hell is going on?" Gordon asked, looking to the heavens.

"Is that crippled thief here?" Agent West asked.

"Yeah, we're trying to get anything we can out of him." Gordon answered.

"Did he mention the Joker?" Agent West asked. Gordon was surprised by the question, the name didn't ring any bells.

"The what?" Gordon asked confused.

"Just bear with me here, it's a long story…" Agent West said, beginning the story.

Five minutes passed and suddenly Lt. Gordon walked back into the office. Todd looked up at him, expecting him to say "Sorry about leaving, let's get back to it." He didn't say that though. He stared at Todd as he walked slowly behind the desk and sat down in the chair. The whole time Gordon never said a word and his eyes never left Todd.

"What?" Todd asked, not knowing what the lieutenant was doing.

"Who's the Joker?" Gordon asked casually.

Todd's eyes became as wide as saucers. He struggled to speak, to try and cover, but he couldn't think of anything to say. He shut his eyes tight and slammed his fist on the desk. "FUCK!"


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Don't own it.

**Midnight. Two Weeks Ago. The Banquet Hall of the Metropolis Arms Hotel.**

The five criminals were gathered in the banquet hall of the hotel, as per the instructions Jericho relayed to them. Two Face paced the room, trying to figure out what was happening while the other four men sat at a table.

"You're gonna wear a hole in the carpet." Scarecrow quipped, getting a dirty look from Two Face.

"Shut up and think!" Two Face said, still pacing. "Somebody had to set this all up. Somebody with power. Somebody with a lot of connections. Somebody capable of tracking us from Gotham."

"Maybe It's Rupert Thorn." Riddler speculated. "He's got rats all over the city."

"Nah, he's got his hands full ever since Batman exposed his money laundering." Scarecrow said. "Maybe we're looking in the wrong place. Maybe it's somebody from here."

"Who in Metropolis has that kind of power?" Penguin asked.

"Well, there's that industrialist, Lex Luthor." Todd interjected. "He's got a history in this town."

"True, but why would he bother with five guys from another city when he's busy running the show here?" Riddler said in deep thought.

"What if it's Marone?" Penguin said, which caused Two Face to stop his pacing. "He's not very fond of you, Mr. Dent. Maybe this is all a vendetta against you and we're just along for the ride."

"Not a bad guess, Mr. Cobblepot." The five men stood up quickly at the new voice. They looked and saw a man in a suit standing in the doorway. He was six feet tall, about fifty years old and had thinning gray hair. He purveyed an aura of aloof arrogance that surpassed even the Penguin's. He held a briefcase in his right hand making the five men wonder what he had brought to this meeting. The lawyer introduced himself. "I am Mr. Cunningham. Mr. Dent I recognize from his past exploits as the Gotham District Attorney. I recognize you, Mr. Nygma, Mr. Cobblepot and Dr. Crane from your mug shots. I can only assume then that you are Mr. Todd. My employer sends his thanks for disposing of Fred Kane."

"You the guy who sent us on that heist?" Scarecrow asked, wondering how this guy knew so much about them.

"Indeed." Cunningham nodded.

"Why?" Two Face asked.

"My employer wanted to be sure he had your attention." Cunningham explained.

"Our attention?" Riddler asked incredulously. "For what?"

"My employer has need of your services, gentlemen. One job. One very dangerous job. He does not expect all of you to survive, but those who do will have 91 million dollars to split however you see fit." Cunningham said.

The five men's eyes widened at the prospect of that much money. Two Face stalked toward the lawyer and asked, "Who sent you?"

"My employer wishes to remain anonymous." Cunningham answered.

"Bullshit, pal." Two Face growled. "No moron goes into business without knowing who they're working for. Now who the hell sent you?"

Cunningham hesitated for a second. He seemed unsure whether to divulge the information, but he decided to go ahead and tell. "I work for the Joker."

Those five little words caused the mood to change dramatically. Two Face's jaw dropped and just stared at Cunningham. Penguin's eyes widened so much his monocle fell off. Riddler blinked several times, as if his brain had frozen up. For the first time ever, Scarecrow looked afraid. Todd looked at his friends' reactions with growing fear.

"Who's the Joker?" Todd asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.

"Judging by your compatriots' reactions, Mr. Todd, I believe they can tell you in due time." Cunningham said, his voice making it clear he was enjoying the look of terror on the crooks' faces. "I'm sure you've heard many stories about Mr. J in the past. Many legends and myths have been told about him. I can assure you that the lion's share of them are true."

"You're lying." Two Face said adamantly, but there was just the tiniest quiver in his voice.

"I assure you, Mr. Dent, I am very serious." Cunningham said, his voice calm but dangerous. "I come with an offer from Mr. J. Well, actually, it's an order."

"What do you mean, 'an order'? Since when do we take orders from him?" Penguin asked.

"Since you stole from him." Cunningham answered, getting confused looks from the men.

"When did we steal from him?" Two Face asked, searching his memory for any unusual robbery.

"In 2000, Mr. Dent, you and your men hijacked two armored cars headed from the state mint to Gotham. What you didn't know was the cars had already been hijacked and were on their way to rendezvous with Mr. J. You had no way of knowing this, Mr. Dent, because the hijackers did not know who they were working for." Cunningham explained.

"I remember that." Two Face said, thinking back. "I thought those guards were too stupid to be real cops."

"Quite. In 2004, Mr. Cobblepot attempted to procure a rare California condor from the Gotham City Zoo. Unfortunately, at the same time Mr. J had planned to steal a rare albino hyena before it was shipped back to Africa. Because of the police presence from Mr. Cobblepot's activities, he was unable to move in." Cunningham went on. "In 2002, Mr. Nygma and his men hijacked a ship under the impression it was carrying equipment for Wayne Enterprises. The boat actually contained one thousand pounds of plastic explosives on its way to Mr. J. The heist did not go according to plan; the explosives were accidentally detonated and the ship sank."

"Oh shit." Riddler said, remembering that fiasco vividly.

"Six months ago, Dr. Crane hijacked a truck carrying gun parts outside of Gotham." Cunningham went on, only to be interrupted by the surprised cry of Penguin.

"What?!" Penguin cried, looking at Scarecrow.

"You robbed the truck they sent us to the line up for?" Riddler demanded.

"Hey, I needed the money to conduct my tests on agoraphobics!" Scarecrow said defensively.

"Thanks a lot, Straw-for-brains." Two Face glowered.

"As I was saying," Cunningham said, getting the attention of the criminals back. "The truck was carrying guns allegedly set to be destroyed by the state. They were to be 'lost' at a weigh station and rerouted to a gang who paid Mr. J a princely sum for them. Again, Mr. J was using pawns without knowledge of his involvement. Which brings me to you, Mr. Todd. Last June, one of Mr. J's less intelligent couriers was taken in a complicated confidence scam and relived of 100,000 dollars by a cripple."

"My mother was right, I should've been a dentist." Todd moaned.

"Now, it has taken some time to find you all. Our original plan was to meet with you after you were arrested in Gotham." Cunningham went on.

"You set up that line up." Two Face concluded.

"Precisely. Mr. J made a few calls and the rest is history." Cunningham shrugged. "Unfortunately, we underestimated the effectiveness and tenacity of Ms. Dawes. Once you were released, Mr. Dent, holding the rest of you was pointless."

"Does Jericho know about this?" Riddler asked.

"No, Mr. Jericho knew nothing. Mr. J rarely works with the same people for very long, and they never know whom they're working for. He cannot be betrayed if he has no people." Cunningham explained.

"So why are you telling us?" Scarecrow asked.

"Because you have stolen from Mr. J, Dr. Crane." Cunningham said plainly. "The only reason he has not killed you is that you didn't know you were stealing from him. He feels you owe him, and you will repay your debt."

"Fuck that." Scarecrow said, pulling out his gun. "How do we know you really work for the Joker?"

"That is irrelevant Dr. Crane." Cunningham said, not batting an eye at the gun. "All five of you are responsible for the murder of Fred Kane and his bodyguards. Mr. Jericho can testify to your involvement and we will see to it that he will. He does not follow 'the code' as you do."

"He's right about that." Riddler nodded.

Cunningham continued, ignoring Riddler's comment. "The offer is this gentlemen: one of Mr. J's primary interests, both personal and in business, is poisons, narcotics and various chemicals. He has been competing with a few notable men back in Gotham for several years. Sal Marone and Rupert Thorne, I'm sure you've heard of them. Competing with Mr. J has taken a toll on his patience. These men are negotiating an alliance between their two organizations. Mr. Thorne plans to christen this alliance with the sale of 91 million dollars in chemicals to Mr. Marone."

"Thorne and Marone together?" Riddler said, his mind reeling. "They'll be unstoppable!"

"Exactly, Mr. Nygma. This transaction will revitalize their combined empire and cause them to become an even larger annoyance to Mr. J." Cunningham continued. "He can't allow that to happen. The deal will take place on a cargo ship belonging to Mr. Thorne in Gotham Harbor at midnight one week from Tuesday. He wants the five of you to return to Gotham and stop the deal. He wants you to get onto the boat and destroy the chemicals. He would also appreciate it if Mr. Thorne and/or Mr. Marone happened to die in the strike. If you wish, you may wait until after the buy and keep whatever money is present. Once you have done this, Mr. J will consider your debt settled and you will be free to go about your business."

"What about the cops? What about Batman? Two of the biggest mobsters in town make a deal this big and they won't be far behind." Scarecrow said, already picturing dozens of police cars surrounding them.

"You are correct Dr. Crane." Cunningham agreed. "Mr. Thorne and Mr. Marone had similar concerns. Which is why they recruited help of their own. Mr. Thorne has hired two men back in Gotham to provide a distraction. At the time of the deal, a Mr. Bane and a Mr. Killer Croc will begin a rampage on the opposite end of the city that will draw the attention of the police and Batman until the deal is done. This will work to your advantage as well since you will not have to worry about the police either."

Two Face had stayed silent for much of the explanation. Once Cunningham had stopped talking, he walked up to the lawyer and said straight to his face, "Give me a good reason why we shouldn't kill you right now."

"Mr. J anticipated that to be your reaction, Mr. Dent. He wanted me to give you this gift." Cuningham said, smirking. He lifted the briefcase he brought with him and handed it to Two Face. "Good night, gentlemen."

The five men watched Cunningham turn and walk out of the banquet hall in silence. They then turned to Two Face, who was holding the briefcase. Penguin looked at the briefcase apprehensively and asked, "Do you think it's safe to open?"

"I don't know." Two Face said, setting the case down on a table.

The four others gathered around the table, staring at the briefcase like it was an animal ready to bite them. Two Face gingerly undid the locks on the case. They clicked open loudly, making the five men jump back. Two Face slowly lifted the lid, half expecting it to explode at any second. When it was totally open, they looked inside. There was a schematic for a ship inside, most likely the ship the deal was going to take place on. Two Face took it out and then stood frozen at what was underneath.

"What the fuck?" Scarecrow asked dumfounded. There was a stack of manila envelopes inside the case. The one on top had RIDDLER written on it in big bold letters. Two Face took the envelope out of the case and handed it to Riddler. Underneath the file was one marked SCARECROW. There was one for each of them.

"What the hell?" Two Face said, handing the envelopes out. They then tore open the envelopes and looked at the contents. "Oh shit!"

"This is impossible!" Penguin said, horrified. The files contained mug shots, photos, evidence of all their past crimes, lists of relatives, lists of known accomplices, lists of addresses, lists of aliases, even their birth certificates. "They have my entire life in here."

"Everybody I've ever worked with and everybody I've done time with." Riddler said bewildered.

"They know everything!" Scarecrow said in a horrified whisper.

"If the cops ever got their hands on this we could be put away for life!" Todd said, shaking.

"Nevermind the cops!" Riddler said, throwing his file on the table. "If these guys have this much access to us, they could bump us off at any time!"

Two Face stood in horror at several pictures in particular. There was a photo of him and Rachel at the restaurant the night they were taken into the line up, a photo of the two of them outside her apartment building, and one of her alone at the courthouse. Two Face was incensed, if they came after him he could deal with them, but Rachel… "This isn't right."

"Do you guys think it's really him?" Riddler asked, voicing a riddle that he wasn't sure he wanted answered. "Do you think it's really the Joker?"

"Please, there is no Joker." Two Face said in the same way a parent would say there's no Santa Claus.

"Who was the guy that talked about the Joker back in Gotham?" Riddler asked Penguin.

"Caesar Romero." Penguin said, after thinking a minute.

"Yeah, he said he worked for him a couple times indirectly." Riddler said, deep in thought. "He said he always made five times more money than the job was worth."

"He also said he knew someone that was killed by him, and spoke in vivid detail on how it was done." Penguin said, shuddering. "This is bad."

"No, it's bullshit." Two Face said, throwing his file down. "It's a fairytale and this Cunningham guy's using him as window dressing."

"Could be a set up." Scarecrow speculated. "This guy could be an undercover cop, this all could be a sting."

"The way I hear it, this Joker guy's not your average criminal." Riddler said, sounding like he was telling a ghost story. "He's supposed to be a totally crazy, merciless, fucked up psychopath."

"There is no Joker!" Two Face snarled, slamming his hands on the table.

Todd flipped through his file with mounting panic. He finally turned to Two Face and asked again, "Who's the Joker?"

**Present Day. Bullock's Office.**

"All the accounts say he looks like an evil clown. Ghost white skin, red lips, green hair, and sadistic sense of humor." Todd said, remembering what the other guys told him. "Nobody knows his real back-story, but there are a few theories. Some say he used to be a thief who escaped capture by swimming through an outflow drain full of toxic waste that bleached his skin. Others say he was an enforcer for Boss Grissom who was thrown into a vat of acid during a botched raid on Axis Chemical and that made him unable to stop smiling. Some say he was a random thug who was given a Chelsea grin and is just wearing makeup to scare people. Whatever the story, the one constant is he's supposed to be the most insane human being on the planet.

"Nobody's seen him in years, and nobody's ever known anyone who worked directly for him. But the way Cunningham told it, anybody anywhere could be working for the Joker. You never knew. That was his power. A preacher back in my hometown once said 'the greatest trick the Devil ever played was convincing the world he didn't exist.' That's what I think of when I think of the Joker.

"One story the guys told me, the one I believed, was about him back when he was still getting started in the Gotham Underworld. Carmine Falcone was rising in power at the time because he realized that to be in power you didn't need guns or money or even numbers. To be powerful, to be feared and respected, you just needed the will to do what your competition wouldn't. Once Falcone's power base was established, he went after the Joker."

**Funland Amusement Park. Gotham City. Once Upon A Time.**

The Joker had left his hideout at the old Funland amusement park to deal with some idiot who hadn't paid that month's protection. Inside the old funhouse, his girlfriend Harley Quinn, and her twin cousins, Delia and Deidre Dennis, were counting money from the latest heist.

"Told you guys workin' for Mr. J would be fun!" Harley said holding a wad of hundreds.

"Yeah, that was awesome, huh, Dee-Dee?" one of the twins asked.

"Hell yeah, Dee-Dee." The other twin said laughing.

"I hope we're not interrupting anything." The three women jumped up at the unfamiliar voice. They saw four men walk into the room; Harley recognized them as Boss Falcone's men.

"If you're lookin' for Mr. J, he's out." Harley said defiantly.

"No problem. We'll just wait here for him." Said Rocky the lead thug, cocking his gun. "In the meantime boys, show the ladies a good time."

"What?" Harley asked, getting frightened as the three goons stalked towards her and he cousins. For the next half hour the three men had some "fun" with the three women while the fourth kept watch for the Joker.

"I see him." Rocky said, a few minutes after the others finished up with the girls. The thugs held the crying girls with their guns at their heads.

"HAAAARLEEEEEY, I'M HOOOOOME!" The Joker called in his Ricky Ricardo voice. He walked into the main room and found a most unpleasant sight before him. The place was trashed and his girlfriend and her cousins were being held hostage. Judging by the state of their make up and clothes, the Joker surmised that these guys had raped them. His insane grin never wavered.

"Hello, Joker." Rocky said. "I think you know who we work for?"

"I have a hunch." The Joker said, shrugging.

"Mr. Falcone's tired of you cutting into his business." Rocky said condescendingly. "He sent us to give you a deal."

"Ooh, Let's Make A Deal! I love it!" The Joker said, clapping his hands. "What does the old fart want?"

"Mr. Falcone wants your territory, your business and from now on you'll be working or him." Rocky said in his most intimidating voice.

"Oh, that might be a problem." The Joker said, shoving his hands in his pockets. "I don't really like taking orders. I like being self-employed. What happens if I refuse?"

"This." Rocky said, turning to a thug holding one of the Dee-Dees. He pulled out his gun and shot the girl in the head.

**BANG!**

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Harley and the other Dee-Dee screamed in horror as the twin fell to the ground lifeless.

"Now, Joker, what do you say?" The thug asked, smiling victoriously.

Joker looked over the faces of Harley and her cousin, and then he showed these men of will what will really was.

**BANG!**

The lead thug was shot right between the eyes.

**BANG! BANG! **

Two of the other men were shot, allowing Dee-Dee to kneel by her sister's body. She cried and hugged her twin in despair.

"Watch it, Joker! I still got your girl!" The last thug said, holding his gun to Harley's head.

"Yeah, I noticed." The Joker said, suddenly aiming his gun away from the thug and at Dee-Dee.

**BANG!**

Dee-Dee fell dead onto her twin sister's body. The thug and Harley were dumbstruck by what had just happened.

"MR. J WHAT DID YOU JUST DO?! Harley screamed hysterically.

**BANG!**

The thug looked stunned as Harley Quinn's dead body fell out of his grasp. He looked at the Joker in raw terror.

The Joker suddenly stopped smiling and looked down at Harley. "I noticed some change in my life since Harley came into it. She reminded me what it's like to be part of a couple. To care for someone who cares for me. It's the first time in recent memory I've had those feelings. I _hated_ having those feelings."

"You really are insane!" The thug said, shaking in fear.

"Yes I am, but I'll truly mourn her." The Joker said morosely. He then burst out into hysterical laughter. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! Now get outta here and tell Falcone that I'll be seeing him real soon!"

_He lets the last thug go. He waits until Harley and the Dee-Dees are buried and then he goes after Falcone. Joker doesn't just kill him though. First he cripples his whole operation. Hired thugs, hitmen, crooked cops, bookmakers, pimps, drug dealers, almost everyone who was working for him ends up dead. Then he kills their families; their wives, their kids, their grandkids, their parents, their friends, all of them. He blows up the clubs, casinos and businesses the mob owns. Hell, he even kills people who were paying protection money. And then he went for Falcone himself._

Falcone sat shuddering at his desk in his penthouse, nursing a bottle of Bourbon. In the last few months, he'd lost everything. All because of that damn clown. A sound made Falcone jump. He looked up and saw his bodyguard, Jack, standing in the doorway.

"What's up, Jack?" Falcone asked, calming down. Jack just stood there for a few seconds, and then fell forward onto the floor. Falcone looked and saw a knife in his back. The old mob boss jumped up terrified.

"You ever dance with the Devil in the pale moonlight?" Falcone looked up and saw the face that had haunted his nightmares for months. That insane smiling face of Satan himself. The Joker sauntered into the room, stepping over the bodyguard's corpse. He walked up to the desk, smiling his inhuman smile as Falcone cowered in his chair.

"Look… look, Joker… I know I messed up, but I can make it up to ya." Falcone said, reaching under the desk for the alarm.

"Don't bother with that Carmy, there's nobody left to call." The Joker said, as if he'd read Falcone's mind. "I've already killed everyone in this building that could've helped you. And you'll also find the phone lines have also been cut. That's kinda funny, a criminal wanting to call the police! Heeheeheeheehahahahaha!"

"Joker, please. Over there…" Falcone said, pointing to a painting on the wall. "Behind the picture is my wall safe, there's a million bucks in there. It's all yours. Just don't kill me!"

"A million bucks, huh?" The Joker said, interested. He walked over to the portrait and pulled it open to reveal the safe. "Open it."

"Sure thing! Sure!" Falcone said, desperate to keep the Joker happy and his chances of living high. He put in the combination and pulled the safe open to reveal the stacks of cash. He grabbed two hand-fulls of the money and held it out for the Joker. "See, all for you. So, we good?"

"Oh yeah, we're good." The Joker said, smiling as he took one of the wads of cash. Then he pulled out his gun and shot the older man in the kneecaps.

**BANG!**

"AAAAAAAHH!" Falcone screamed as he fell to the floor, clutching his injured legs.

"You really are an idiot." The Joker slowly stalked the wounded crime lord as he crawled in a futile attempt to escape this maniac. "You can't buy the Joker. Though, I will be keeping this cash as a memento. Fact is, old man, you messed with the wrong guy. You think you can pull a lion's tail without getting mauled?!"

"Please!" Falcone sobbed pitifully. "Don't kill me, please!

"You know, this reminds me of an old song. Isn't it rich? Aren't we a pair? You, here at last on the ground, me, in midair. Send in the clowns. Don't you love farce? My fault I fear. I thought you'd want what I want. Sorry my dear. But where are the clowns? Send in the clowns…" He kicked Falcone and the old man rolled onto his back. Joker stood over him, his gun cocked and aimed at his head. "Don't bother. They're here!"

**BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! **

"HAHAHAHAHAHA! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!"

**Present Day. Bullock's Office.**

"And like that," Todd said as he snapped his fingers. "He's gone. Underground. Vanishes totally from the public eye. Nobody's seen him since. He becomes a legend, a myth, a ghost story for crooks to tell their kids when they tuck them into bed. 'Be a good boy or the Joker will get you.' He's like the Batman only he's not interested in protecting law and order. Most people don't really believe he exists, but every so often, somebody claims they've caught a glimpse of him. A hazy photo or a blurred video recording shows up that supposedly depicts him, like the stuff that shows up about Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster. To most people he's just a scary story, but to others he's a terrifying reality."

"I take it you believe in him." Gordon said, taking in the whole story.

Todd looked at him for a minute before answering. "Harvey once said to me, 'I don't believe in God, but I'm afraid of Him.' Well, I believe in God, and the only thing that scares me is the Joker."

"And you didn't think anyone would find this interesting?" Gordon asked expectantly.

"Hey, I came clean! I told the DA what happened in the harbor, so what if I left out how I got there?" Todd asked. "The story's so full of holes the DA would've told me to blow immunity out of my ass. So you got what you wanted so big deal."

"Why didn't you tell this to the DA?" Gordon asked.

"Well, you tell me Lt. Gordon." Todd said as if it were obvious. "If I told you the Boogeyman hired us to do a job, would you have believed me?"

"You could turn state's evidence." Gordon suggested. "We can put you on the stand and hear you out."

"I got immunity now, what else could I get out of it?" Todd asked, throwing his hand up.

"Well, if the Joker really does exist, he's going to be looking for you." Gordon said, which made Todd laugh.

"You're kidding right? 'He's gonna be looking for me.' Don't you get it, Lieutenant?" Todd asked, trying to get the cop to see the truth. "Do you think I don't know about the calls from the chief of police or the mayor? Where do you think all this political pressure is coming from?"

"You think it's the Joker?" Gordon asked, his brow furrowed.

"If he can pull strings to get me and the other guys into a line up, he sure as hell can pull the strings to get me immunity and sent back out on the street. He's got the burner under your asses to get me out of here so he can bump me off ten minutes later. Immunity was just a deal with you jerk offs, once I post bail I'm fair game for that lunatic." Todd said, resting his head in his hand.

"So why play into his hands?" Gordon asked. "We can protect you."

"Oh, gee, thanks Jimmy." Todd said sarcastically. "So far today, you've extorted and coerced me into talking, you'll pardon me if I ask you to kiss my ass. Same fuckers who rounded us up and got us into this mess are now bailing me out? Screw that, pal!"

"You honestly think this Joker guy would try to get you if you were under police protection? And now the FBI is involved to, so he'd also be dealing with the Feds. He'd have to know that it wouldn't be logically possible to get you then." Gordon said.

"Logical?" Todd asked, shaking his head in amazement. "You're really trying to apply reason with the way that maniac thinks? It's like this guy in my old neighborhood said, 'The most dangerous kind of people in this world are the ones that aren't looking for anything logical. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. They just want to watch the world burn.' How the hell can anyone get the better of a guy like that? You think you can catch the Joker? You think a guy like that is gonna come this close to getting caught and stick his head out? Being nuts don't make you stupid. If he surfaces, it'll probably be to get rid of me. After that… well, odds are you'll never hear from the Joker again."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Disclaimer: Don't own Batman or Usual Suspects

**The Metropolis Arms Hotel. The Next Morning. **

The ringing of the phone woke Jason Todd from a sound sleep. He reached for it and picked it up.

"Hello?" Todd said, still half asleep.

"Todd, it's Riddler, get dressed and come to my room now!" Riddler said and then hung up. Todd groaned and got dressed, which took him a little longer than most people because of his handicap. He hobbled out of his room and down to the Riddler's. He knocked on the door and Two Face answered it. Todd looked inside and saw all the others there, except Penguin. Each of them looked angry.

"Um… what's wrong?" Todd asked.

"Penguin's gone!" Riddler yelled, kicking over a chair.

"What?" Todd said, surprised.

"Look, he left a note." Riddler said, waving a piece of paper around. He thrust the note into Todd's hand and he read it.

"My fellow miscreants

This has been an interesting enterprise with the four of you, but I must depart. I will not succumb to the whims of a mad man like this Joker fellow. I wish the four of you good luck if you choose to undertake the endeavor Mr. Cunningham proposed. However, I must say that I think it would be unwise to do so.

Regards

Penguin"

"Well, son of a bitch." Todd said, setting the note down on a table.

"He took some of the money we scraped together." Scarecrow said angrily. "I bet he's half way back to Gotham by now."

"I'm gonna find him and I'm gonna kill him!" Riddler said furiously.

"No, we're going to figure out our next move." Two Face said, crumpling up the note and tossing it in the trash. "Cunningham's still out there and we…"

Two Face was interrupted by the ringing of the phone. The four men looked at the phone confused. Scarecrow looked at Riddler and asked, "Does anyone know we're here?"

"No." Riddler said.

"Did you ask for a wake up call?" Todd asked.

"No." Riddler said, shaking his head.

Two Face walked to the phone and picked up the receiver. "Hello?"

"Good morning, Mr. Dent." Came the voice on the other end.

"Mr. Cunningham." Two Face said, getting surprised expressions from the other three men. "What do you want?"

"Are you aware that Mr. Cobblepot attempted to run last night?" Cunningham asked.

Two Face got a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. "What do you know about Penguin?"

"Stay in Mr. Nygma's room." Cunngham said, ignoring the question. "A package will be delivered within the hour."

"A package? But what does… Hello? Hello?" Two Face said, but Cunningham had hung up. Two face put the phone down and turned to the others. "He said a package was coming."

"So, what do we do?" Todd asked, anxiously.

"I guess we wait." Two Face said, sitting down. The four men waited for what seemed like forever until finally, there was a knock at the door.

Riddler went to the door and looked out the peephole, it was some delivery boy. He opened the door and greeted the man. "Hello."

"Hi there," The delivery boy said. "Mr. Nygma?"

"That's me." Riddler nodded.

"Sign here please." The man said, holding out a form. Riddler signed it and the man handed him a package about two feet wide and two feet tall.

"Thanks." Riddler said, shutting the door in the delivery boy's face. Riddler locked the door and set the box down on the table. "What do you think?"

"Could be more evidence against us." Scarecrow said.

"Could be a bomb." Todd said fearfully.

"Let's see." Two Face said, pulling out a knife. He slowly cut the tape on the top of the box and lifted the one lid. There was a strange scent coming from the box, like blood. He lifted the other lid of the box and looked inside. "Oh my God."

"Is that what I think it is?" Todd asked, anxiously.

"Yeah." Two Face said, reaching into the box.

He pulled out Penguin's top hat, the velvet surface looked soaked with something. Two Face set it down and saw that there was blood his hands, he touched a finger to the hat and it was covered in blood. He looked back inside and reached in again. He pulled out Penguin's cigarette holder and his monocle, which now had a crack running down the center. He looked again and saw some papers at the bottom of the box. He reached in and grabbed them. They were photos of the Penguin. He was lying on the ground dead, his tuxedo drenched in blood and riddled with bullet holes.

"Oh fuck." Riddler said, sitting down on the bed.

"Look." Scarecrow said, noticing something tucked in the brim of the top hat. He pulled it out to get a better look at it. It was a playing card. Not just any playing card, but a _Joker_ card. On the back it had a message written on it. "You can't run and you can't hide!"

"We're so fucking dead." Todd groaned.

"No, we're not!" Two Face said sternly.

"I say we run." Scarecrow said, looking at the bloody top hat.

"Oh look, the great Scarecrow is afraid!" Riddler said mockingly.

"Hey, fear is a healthy thing when it comes to self preservation." Scarecrow barked. "I got no problem running."

"Neither does Cunningham!" Two Face, holding up one of the photos of the Penguin's body.

"We worked together on and off for over five years." Riddler said, his voice dazed. "We did more jobs and I saw more money than I can even remember."

"I'm sorry." Todd said to Riddler.

"Don't feel sorry for me, feel sorry for Cunningham." Riddler said, his sadness replaced by fury. "Cause now it's payback time."

"No, it's not payback!" Two Face said, grabbing the attention of the three men. "It's precaution. You want payback, you wanna run, I don't give a fuck! I'm going to finish this. Not for Penguin, not for any of you, or for anyone else but me. This Cunningham bastard isn't going to walk all over me. Anyone who wants to help me kill him is welcome, but if not, then you can all go to hell."

**Present Day. Bullock's Office.**

"After they killed Penguin, nobody wanted to run?" Gordon asked, hanging on every word.

"I wanted to. I really, really wanted to, but Harvey wouldn't hear it." Todd said, shaking at the memory. "He wasn't going to be intimidated by the Joker cause he still didn't think it was really him. He could see that a big enough crook could pull this off, somebody like Marone or Thorne, but a psycho who looks like a clown? It was too far fetched. Nobody argued with Harvey, we just went to work on how we were gonna get Cunningham. But first, we had to deal with Jericho."

**The South Side of Metropolis. Two Weeks Ago. Two Days After The Penguin Disappeared.**

The four men had followed Jericho to a meeting for another fence. It was in the bad part of Metropolis, the slums and crime-ravaged area that the pristine city wanted to ignore. They watched Jericho's car pull to a stop by an old boarded up gas station.

"You guys know the plan?" Two Face asked as their car stopped a few hundred yards behind Jericho's Lincoln.

"Let's do this." Riddler said, cocking his gun. The four men exited the car and stealthily moved towards the scene of the fence. They hid behind a tall hedge as Jericho and his men got out of the car. They stood there for a minute before some guy dressed in black walked out of an alley towards Jericho. The four Gothamites chuckled at the thief he was meeting with; he looked young, barely twenty.

It wasn't much of a fence, the guy just had a few stolen necklaces, probably worth a few hundred or a couple thousand dollars. This worked to their benefit because Jericho only brought along two bodyguards; he must have figured he wouldn't need much security for some dumb kid with only a few grand worth of jewelry.

"Howdy Junior, got something for me?" Jericho said condescendingly.

"Hey man, it took a lot of work to get these." The kid said indignantly.

"Yeah, whatever." Jericho said, inspecting the necklaces. "Not bad for your first heist, kid."

"Hey Jericho!" Jericho, his bodyguards and the kid turned and saw Riddler walking towards them.

"Eddy, what the fuck are you doing here?!" Jericho demanded. "Can't you see I'm in the middle of something?"

"Sorry, Jericho, but this couldn't wait." Riddler said, smiling. "You know that lawyer you sent to us?"

"Yeah, what about him?" Jericho asked, not seeing the point.

"He wanted me to give you a message." Riddler said, holding out a folded piece of paper.

"Fine, give it to me." Jericho said, snatching the paper from Riddler's hand. He unfolded it and read it aloud. "What the hell? 'I can't see, I can't talk. I can't hear, I can't walk. I can't move, I can't feel. I can't buy, I can't deal. I can't breathe, I can't fly. Why? What am I?' What the fuck is that?"

"It's a riddle." Riddler said, smiling triumphantly. "Want to know the answer?"

"No I don't want to know the answer. Boys, shoot him." Jericho said angrily. He was suddenly aware that his men weren't standing next to him anymore. He looked down and saw his bodyguards dead on the ground.

"Wonderful thing, silencers." Two Face said, as he Scarecrow and Todd stepped out from behind the bushes, holding guns with silencers on them. "They've been dead for over a minute now and you never noticed."

"Wha…" Jericho said, suddenly panicking. "Um, guys, look…"

"The answer to the riddle, my dear Jericho. Why? What are you?" Riddler said, raising his gun. "You are dead."

**BANG!**

Jericho's dead body fell to the ground, blood seeping from the bullet hole in his forehead. The kid stared at the whole exchange in terror. This was his first encounter with this side of crime. Riddler aimed his gun at the kid. "Don't move!"

"What do we do with him?" Scarecrow asked.

Two Face walked over to the kid, his gun in hand. He pointed the gun at the kid burst into tears. Two Face put his gun away and grabbed the kid by the collar. "I'll let you live, this time! But you steal anything else, hell if you so much as litter, I'll find you and blow your fucking brains out! NOW SCRAM!"

The kid didn't need telling twice, he turned and ran away as fast as his legs could carry him, not even stopping to get the necklaces. Scarecrow turned to Two Face and asked. "Sure that was a good idea? He could still identify us."

"Please! That little bastard's nothing. Nobody's going to sweat three more dead bodies in this neighborhood. Besides, we'll be back in Gotham once we take out Cunningham, anyway." Two Face said, picking up the necklaces and the cash Jericho had brought. They went back to the car and drove away.

_What we found out the next day was that Cunningham wasn't in Metropolis anymore. He had caught a plane to Gotham the same night we went to get Jericho. So, we got on the next flight home and started looking. It took us a while, but we found him. _

**The Law Offices Of Moore & Miller. Three Days Ago.**

Mr. Cunningham walked briskly into the office of the city's biggest law firm flanked by two bodyguards. They walked towards the elevators, not noticing the skinny man whose face was hidden by a newspaper. Scarecrow peered over the edge of the paper at their target. He grabbed his walkie-talkie. "He's coming up. Over."

"OK, we're set. Get to the stairs. Over." Two Face said into his walkie-talkie. He, Riddler and Todd were up on the fifth floor by the elevators in their servicemen disguises. They had sabotaged two of the three elevators and pretended to fix them. Riddler went up a ladder and climbed through the ceiling hatch. Once the hatch was replaced, the elevator doors closed and descended. While Riddler went down, Two Face and Todd went for the stairs.

The elevator arrived on the ground floor and Cunningham entered followed by his two bodyguards. The doors closed and the elevator went up. Suddenly the lights in the cab went out.

POP. POP.

Cunningham heard what sounded like two balloons popping and the lights came back on. He casually looked down and saw his bodyguards lying on the floor and blood spattered on the cab walls. He looked up at the open hatch and stared into the barrel of Riddler's gun. "What is a place we will all end up, but nobody wants to go to?"

"The grave." Cunningham answered calmly. The lawyer's composure remained unbroken even with a gun aimed at his head. "I wondered if you would try something like this or not."

Riddler jumped down into the cab, his gun still aimed at Cunningham's head. "Press Forty."

"Very well." Cunningham said, sounding almost bored. He hit the button and they continued on their ascent. The elevator stopped on the fortieth floor; the doors opened and Riddler shoved Cunningham out of the cab.

The lawyer saw they were in the part of the building that was being renovated. All around them were ladders, drywall, lumber, paint, and various tools. Two Face, Todd and Scarecrow stepped around the corner and walked towards Cunningham and Riddler. Two Face took Cunningham by the arm while the other three dragged the bodies to an open elevator shaft and tossed them down.

"We flipped for it. The answer is no." Two Face growled.

Cunningham didn't need Two Face to elaborate to know meant the order the Jokersent him with. "Mr. J will be…"

"Listen to me, Fuckingham." Two Face said, raising his gun. "There is no Joker! You say his name again and I'll kill you."

"That's a very strange threat, Mr. Dent, considering you obviously set this whole thing up to kill me in the first place." Cunningham said calmly. "I heard that Mr. Jericho was killed. May I assume that was your doing?"

"Yep. Good luck getting us on Kane's murder without him." Scarecrow said, grinning smugly.

"We know you can get to us, but now you know that we can get to you too." Two Face said, circling Cunningham. "We're giving you one chance to call this whole thing off, otherwise we shoot you now."

"My employer has made up his mind, Mr. Dent. He will not change it. I would be a fool to try and make him." Cunningham said, plainly.

"You got Penguin, you might get one or two of us but you won't be able to get us all before one of us gets to you." Riddler said, getting right in Cunningham's face.

"I believe you, Mr. Nygma, I really do." Cunningham said, not flinching even as Riddler was inches from his face. "My employer wouldn't have chosen you if you weren't such capable criminals. Unfortunately, it is not up to me. Any threat you give me will be nothing compared to what will happen to me if I disobey my employer's orders."

Riddler stepped back and raised his gun to aim right between Cunningham's eyes. "I'm going to be the one that kills you. I just thought you should know."

"I see." Cunningham said, his voice still so steady and calm that it was driving the four crooks crazy. "I must warn all of you that Mr. J is very real and very determined. Killing me will not stop anything. He will keep coming for you, all of you."

"We'll see." Two Face said, nodding to Riddler.

"Very well, but before you send me to meet my Maker, will you allow me to finish my business with Ms. Dawes?" Cunningham asked.

Two Face suddenly grabbed the gun from Riddler's hand before he could shoot. The scarred former lawyer stepped closer and asked in a deadly voice. "What did you say?"

"Miss Rachel Dawes." Cunningham clarified. "She's up in my office for a criminal investigation. I asked her personally to be on the case. Well, that isn't important, go ahead and shoot."

"You're lying." Two Face snarled, but Todd could hear the hint of uncertainty in his voice.

"Are you sure?" Cunningham challenged.

"Fine." Two Face said, pocketing his gun. "We'll see for ourselves."

The four men piled into the elevator and went up to the fiftieth floor. The four criminals followed Cunningham to his office, Riddler holding a small pistol behind Cunningham's back. They turned a corner and came to a glass wall separating Cunningham's office from the hall. Two Face's jaw dropped, Rachel was there. She was sitting at a meeting table, talking to a few other men whose faces they couldn't see. There was another tall man standing behind Rachel, he looked very intimidating.

"That is Ms. Dawes' escort while she's on this case. With such an important case, there's bound to be some threats to her safety. He never leaves her side for a moment. I thought you'd be pleased she's in good hands." Cunningham explained, but the threat in the statement was clear. Two Face motioned for Riddler to put away the gun.

"You son of a bitch." Two Face said, seething.

"Yes, yes. Now, gentlemen, I have to get back to work. You had better get to your own work as well. You have only three days to prepare for your assignment in the harbor. Oh, Mr. J told me to give you this note if you happened to come see me." Cunningham said, pulling an envelope from his pocket. Two Face took the envelope, wishing he could haul off and slug this arrogant bastard. "I will take care of the two bodies downstairs. I'll add them to the cost of Mr. Cobblepot. Good day."

The four crooks watched Cunningham walk off, stewing in impotent rage. Two Face in particular was beside himself, watching that slime lawyer sit down next to Rachel. He couldn't take it, he turned and stormed back down the hall followed by his three compatriots. They entered the elevator and Two Face hit the wall n frustration.

"Well, what's in the envelope?" Scarecrow asked impatiently.

Two Face looked up suddenly; in his anger at their situation, he had forgotten he had it. He pulled out the envelope and tore it open. A note fell out onto the floor. Riddler picked it up and read it aloud.

"'To Scabface, Straw Man, Puzzle Freak and Hop Along.

If you're reading this then you have been very bad boys. You're trying to weasel out of your debt to me, aren't you? Well, forget about it! You're going to do what I tell you to or things will get bad. Stop coming after my helper and get to work! If you pull a stunt like this again, I'll see to it personally that Rachel Dawes has an encounter with several very horny degenerates before she dies. And while I'm thinking about it, do you think your old foster mother would enjoy it if I set up an appointment for her after Miss Dawes has had her turn, Jason Todd? Scarecrow, do you think your brother would like to see what jumping off a building without a parachute is like? Hey, Riddler, you know those cute-as-a-button twin nieces you have? What are they, five or six? That blonde hair is just darling. Do you think it'll change color after I've set them on fire? If you want these people safe, stop hunting for me and get ready for the boat job!

Love your pal.

The Joker XOXO.' Oh my God!" Riddler said, sinking to his knees.

"We're so fucked." Scarecrow said, defeated.

"We got no choice. We gotta do it now." Todd said, the idea of his mother or Rachel or anybody getting hurt making the bile rise in his throat.

**Gotham Bay Harbor. Yesterday.**

A Sedan sat in a parking lot of a shop with a view of the harbor. Inside, Two Face, Scarecrow, Todd and Riddler went over their information one last time. Ever since their attempt on Cunningham's life, they had done nothing but go over the files of the boat Cunningham gave them and plan for this job. There were lists of rooms, the full map of the ship, everything you could need to plan an attack. But they still weren't ready.

"It's a logistical nightmare." Two Face groaned.

"Closed quarters, no advance layout." Riddler said, rubbing his head. "There's probably going to be dozens of Thorne's guys on the boat."

"Can't we stealth them?" Todd asked.

"Not likely." Two Face said, looking at the map again. "With all those chemicals and drugs, they're gonna be ready."

"If one of us gets through and jacks the boat before Marone arrives with the cash, we got nothing." Riddler said, putting some papers away.

"But if we do wait for him to get here with the money, he'll bring along a dozen more guys with him." Todd said, picking up another file.

"In my professional opinion, it's an impossible job." Two Face said, leaning on the steering wheel. "It's a suicide mission."

"I say we wait for the money." Riddler said suddenly.

"Didn't you hear what he just said?" Todd asked incredulously.

"Hey, if we're going in there, we're getting paid!" Scarecrow said, pulling out some more papers.

"Hear hear." Riddler said.

Todd shook his head, the whole thing sounded nuts. "I can't believe we're just going to walk into certain death."

"Hey, we all gotta go sometimes, right Two Face?" Scarecrow asked.

Two Face didn't answer, he just stared out at the harbor. He pulled out his coin and flipped it. Scarred side up, not a good sign.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

**Gotham Harbor. Midnight. Last Night.**

The big night had finally come. The water of the bay was no longer peaceful blue but dark and ominous, as if it were an omen of death. The only illumination on the water was the pale light of the full moon. Rupert Thorne's boat was large and sleek, like a shark. It could've been a yacht but it wasn't well furnished; this wasn't Thorne's leisure ship, this was a vessel for business. The harbor was quiet except for the whirring of a crane as it loaded drums of oil onto the ship. It was relatively peaceful, like the calm before the storm.

Two Face and Todd hid under a tarp in a dry dock boat, Scarecrow had maneuvered to the aft of Thorne's boat and hid behind the oil drums, and Riddler had climbed up onto the roof of the boathouse. Each was armed with two handguns and a submachine gun, except Riddler, who also had a sniper rifle ready. Two Face and Todd dressed in black, Scarecrow's costume was also now dyed black making it look even scarier, and Riddler stayed in green but was now very dark green. They surveyed the area from their various vantage points.

"Guys, so far I count twelve men. No sign of Thorne. Over." Scarecrow said into his walkie-talkie.

"I see him, he's on the dock talking to the harbor master. Over." Riddler said, looking through the scope on his rifle.

"Anything Todd?" Two Face asked.

Todd had a pocket radio tuned to the news to check for the supposed appearance of Bane and Killer Croc so they had a heads up. "Nothing so far. Just the usual stuff; she's pregnant, he's a killer, the president sucks, blah blah… wait!"

"What?" Two Face said, turning to Todd.

"This just in, known criminals Killer Croc and Bane are tearing up the street in the financial district." Todd said shutting off his radio.

"Guys, Bane and Croc are attacking, Marone should be here any second." Two Face said into his walkie-talkie. "Riddler, you ready? Over."

"All set up. How about you Scarecrow? Over." Riddler said, pulling out some more ammo.

"I've been ready, just waiting for Two Face's signal. Over." Scarecrow said, skulking behind the barrels.

As if in answer to Scarecrow's statement, a limo and a van pulled into the parking lot. Two Face and Todd watched as Sal Marone and ten of his men exited the vehicles and walked down the dock towards Thorne's boat. Todd saw the hate in Two Face's eye as Marone appeared. The mobster turned him into a freak, and now he had the chance to pay him back once and for all. Two Face grabbed his walkie-talkie and gave the signal. "OK guys, Marone's here. It's on. Over."

"OK, let's do this." Todd said, gripping his machine gun tightly.

"No." Two Face said, grabbing Todd's shoulder. "I want you to stay here."

"What?!" Todd asked, stunned at Two Face's request. "But I'm supposed to cover you."

"Listen to me, Jason." Two Face said, using Todd's first name for the first time. "If I don't make it out of this alive, take the money and run."

"I can't just leave you die!" Todd said, desperately.

"I need you to do this for me, Jason. Take the money and find Rachel. Take her and get out of town. Go somewhere safe, somewhere to hide where nobody can find you." Two Face said, putting his had on Todd's shoulder. "Tell her… tell her everything. If I can't get Cunningham my way, she can get him hers."

"But… but Harvey." Todd said, really concerned.

"Just do what I tell you, please!" Two Face pleaded. "Tell her I love her. Tell her I tried."

"I will." Todd said, taking Two Face's hand. "Good luck."

Two Face jumped out of the boat and began walking after Marone and his crew. He hid his gun inside his coat, and stuck his hands in his pockets. Riddler watched Two Face go from the boat down the docks. There was no turning back now.

"Hey, looks like we got company." Said one of Marone's henchmen. Marone turned and saw a man in a dark suit walking towards them. He had his head down, the wide brim of the hat hiding his face.

"Deal with him." Marone said distractedly. The mob boss continued down the docks as five of his men stayed behind to deal with the uninvited guest.

"Scarecrow, Two Face is almost in position. Get the detonator ready. Over." Riddler said, aiming the rifle at the thugs that now began to approach Two Face.

"Ten-four. Over." Scarecrow said, pulling out the detonator. The bomb he had planted on the sailboat down the row from Thorne's yacht beeped as it became armed.

"Hey pal, you lost?" One of the thugs asked.

"I think so," Two Face said, puling the brim of his hat down further. "Is this the way to the fishing supply store?"

"No man, that's on the other side of the harbor." Another goon said, pointing to the opposite shore.

"Oh wow, I coulda sworn it was near here." Two Face stalled.

"Well, we all make mistakes." The first thug said, reaching for his gun.

"Well, if you guys say so. So, what are you boys doing out here this late?" Two Face asked.

"None of your business pal." Said another of the crooks pulling out his gun and aiming it at Two Face. "And take that stupid hat off!"

The heavy swatted the hat away to reveal the visage of their guest. The first thug smiled. "Well I'll be damned, boys! Look who we got here!"

"It's Two Face!" Another goon said laughing. "You know, I bet the boss would give us a big bonus if we took care of him."

"You know, I think you're right." The first thug said, pointing his gun at Two Face's chest.

**KABOOM!!**

Scarecrow hit the detonator and the sailboat exploded a mere two hundred yards from where Two Face and the gangsters were standing. It was all the distraction Two Face needed. He pulled his guns out and shot two of the men closed to him.

**BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!**

Two Face continued to fire as a few of the men got their own guns and started firing back. Two Face ran down the docks after Marone and his men. He was met with several more thugs charging at him. Unfortunately for them, Riddler had them in his sites and took them out easily.

Thorne and Marone climbed up the ladder and onto the boat. There, more men pulled out their weapons and aimed for the scarred lawyer. At that moment, Scarecrow made his presence known; he jumped out from behind the barrels, his machine gun blazing. The men on the boat were dropping like flies in the hail of bullets.

Suddenly, the machine gun clicked. It was out of bullets. Scarecrow looked up to see Sal Marone standing on the deck of the ship aiming a gun at him. The gangster smirked. "How about a little fire, Scarecrow?"

**BANG! BANG!**

Scarecrow shut his eyes at the sound of the gunshot, but he realized a second later that he wasn't hit. He looked up and saw Marone draped over the rail of the boat with two bullet holes in his chest. He turned and saw Two Face running down the dock toward him. Scarecrow grinned as he reloaded his machine gun. "Nice Shot."

"Not too bad yourself, Johnny." Two Face said, climbing up. "Cover me."

"You got it." Scarecrow said, pointing his gun up at the boat as Two Face climbed aboard. He noticed that Riddler had left his perch on the boathouse and was now climbing across a mooring cable towards the ship. "You OK, Riddler?"

"I'm fine." Riddler said, jumping down onto the roof of the top level of the deck. "We can take it from here, go get the money!"

"Now there's a great plan!" Scarecrow said, smiling greedily. He ran back down the docks towards where Marone and his men had parked.

Riddler and Two Face made their way across the deck, shooting anyone they came across. They failed to notice that some shots had hit some of the barrels of fuel and oil was now leaking all over the deck. When they were convinced they had the area secured, they went down the stairs to the lower decks.

Meanwhile, Scarecrow had made his way back to the parking lot. He saw only one guard at the van, pretty lazy on Marone's part. He pulled out one of his fear gas bombs and tossed it over to the van. The guard turned but the cloud of gas obscure his vision. Scarecrow slowly crept towards the van as the fear toxin took effect. "Where are you, fucker?! Where the fuck are you?!"

"Right here." Scarecrow said as he came up from behind the guard.

The guard turned and dropped his gun. He screamed at the sight before him; the giant demonic black scarecrow looming over him. "AAAAAAAAAHH!!"

**BANG!**

Scarecrow shot the man as he screamed. He loved fear, but he didn't want to draw too much attention. He pulled the back door to the van open and looked inside. The van was filled to the ceiling with several dozen large boxes. Scarecrow grabbed a box nearest to him and pulled the cover off; his eyes bugged out. There were rows of cash and negotiable barer bonds. The one box in front of him probably contained over a million bucks. "Oh, this is so good."

**BANG!**

Scarecrow jerked forward as a bullet hit him in the back. He tried to straighten up but the pain was too much. He fell to his knees on the concrete, clutching at the gaping exit wound in his stomach. He fell onto his back and looked up at his mystery assailant. His eyes widened in horror as the shooter raised his gun.

**BANG!**

On the boat, Two Face and Riddler had separated as they combed the lower decks. Two Face slowly descended down a stair way, keeping his gun ready in case he ran into more of Thorne or Marone's men. He poked his head around a corner, and saw noone. He hadn't run into anyone yet, but he could hear voices carrying through the corridors of the ship.

Back on the dock, Todd had gotten tired of sitting there doing nothing. He heaved himself out of his hiding place on the boat and made his way over to where Marone had parked. He shuffled over to the van and froze at the sight before him. The body of the one guard and the body of the Scarecrow lay on the ground in a pool of blood.

**Bullock's Office. Present.**

"Why didn't you run?" Gordon asked dubiously.

"I froze." Todd said, closing his eyes tightly at the memory of just a few hours ago. "My mind flashed to the photo Joker sent us of Penguin. I didn't want to be there, but I couldn't make myself run. Then I thought of Harvey and thought he might actually make it."

"Excuse me." Todd and Gordon looked up and saw Bullock standing in the doorway. "I got something you should check out, Jim."

"I'll be back." Gordon said to Todd. He got up and left the office with Bullock. The two men went to another office and found Agent West holding a file. "What's up?"

"Another body was recovered, shot twice in the head." Agent West said, handing Gordon the file to Gordon. "The explosion threw him clean out of the boat. He floated almost out of the bay before we found him. We've identified him."

"Professor Hugo Strange." Gordon said, reading the file.

"He was a psychologist." Agent West explained. "He lost his license when he started blackmailing patients with information they'd told him. There's a criminal investigation on him. Get this, Rachel Dawes was called in on the proceedings."

"Cunningham." Gordon realized.

"Strange seems to have a knack at getting information, check out his testimony." Bullock said pointing to a part of the file.

Gordon let out an impressed whistle. "Geez, he was a big rat."

"He's a stool pigeon among stool pigeons." Agent West said. "He was very averse to going to prison. So much so that he named close to fifty criminals. Pamela Isley, Dr. Victor Fries, Basil Karlo, Floyd Lawton, Max Schrek, Garfield Lynns, Tony Zucco; the list goes on and on. But that's not the best part, guess who he names for his big finish?"

Gordon looked at the last name on the list and his eyes widened. "The Joker."

"There's more." Agent West said.

A few minutes later, Gordon walked back into the office and sat down in the chair next to Todd. "Stop me if this sounds familiar. There were no drugs on that boat."

**Gotham Harbor. Last Night. **

Todd slammed shut the door to the van and ran around to the driver's side door. He jumped inside, and began looking for the place the car keys were hidden. He checked the ignition, the glove compartment, the visor and anywhere else he could think of but didn't find the keys. He got out of the car and went back to the body of the guard and started going through his pockets with his one hand.

Todd was so absorbed in what he was doing that he failed to notice somebody walk right past the van and towards the boat. The man walked casually down the docks like he was on a stroll through the park. The purple trench coat he wore flapped in the wind as a smile curled his lips. The newcomer walked up to the boat and climbed onto the deck unnoticed and then went to complete his mission.

Inside his cabin, Hugo Strange began to shiver in fear. The man he saw earlier, there was no denying it, it was him. The door to his cabin suddenly opened, making Strange jump in surprise. Rupert Thorne poked his head inside and addressed the balding professor. "Stay quiet, my men will be on guard here."

"He's here!" Strange said in pure terror.

"Batman?" Thorne asked, anxiously.

"No, no, not Batman!" Strange said, his voice growing in volume with his panic.

"Then shut up and stop worrying." Thorne said, sternly. Thorne shut and locked the door, but Strange didn't stop yelling.

"You don't understand! It's him! I saw him! I know he's here! I'M TELLING YOU THE JOKER IS HERE!" Strange screamed in terror.

Elsewhere on the boat, Riddler and Two Face continued their search for the chemicals. Two Face was getting frustrated, he'd been all through the labyrinthine lower decks and still couldn't find any drugs. Suddenly, he turned a corner and saw a door. He approached it and opened it. He flashed his gun into the darkened room with no response. He hit the lights and saw he was in the ship's hold, but it was completely empty.

"What the fuck is this?" Two Face asked aloud. He turned and stormed off.

Riddler had wandered into a cabin that he surmised was Thorne's living area on the boat. He saw no sign of chemicals or any of the mobster's men. He left the room and proceeded down a dark hall to the engine room. He walked into the room and the sound of the engines was deafening. He scanned the area for anyone, but he was alone. He turned and was about to head back out when someone walked through the door.

"FREEZE!" Cried both men at once. Riddler then saw that it was Two Face and the two men lowered their guns.

"Scared me there, Riddler." Two Face said, looking around for any enemies.

"Did you hear that?" Riddler asked.

"Hear what?" Two Face asked, looking around in case Riddler meant somebody was about to jump out.

"The Joker's here." Riddler said, which made Two Face's eyes widen. "Somebody was screaming that the Joker was here."

"Fuck." Two Face said, looking down the hall.

"Where's Scarecrow?" Riddler asked.

"I don't know, but I think we got bigger problems." Two Face said ominously.

"What do you mean?" Riddler asked, looking over his shoulder for any signs of movement.

"There's nothing here." Two Face said angrily.

"I can see that, we must've shot everybody." Riddler said, not understanding Two Face's words.

"No, Nygma, there are no drugs!" Two Face said slamming his fist on the metal walls.

Riddler spun around and stared at Two Face in disbelief. "What do you mean there's no drugs?"

"Exactly that!" Two Face said frustrated. "I've been all over this ship, I've been in the hold, I've been in the cabins, I've been in every room and except for the fuel and stuff it takes to run this boat there's no chemicals!"

"You've gotta be fucking kidding!" Riddler said outraged.

"There's. Nothing. Here!" Two Face said, loudly and slowly.

"Then what the hell are we here for?!" Riddler asked fuming.

Before Two Face could answer, there was a sound of distant gunshots followed by a loud, maniacal laugh. "HAHAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!"

The two men looked at each other, thoroughly freaked out. Riddler looked at Two Face and asked in a scared voice "Do you think…"

"I don't know and I don't care." Two Face said quickly. "Let's get the fuck outta here!"

"Best idea I've heard all day!" Riddler said and the two of them hurried down the corridor. "Which way?"

"I… I don't know. This place is a friggen maze." Two Face said, looking around as the hall came to an intersection.

**BANG! BANG! BANG!**

The two men ducked as gunshots came down one of the halls. They tried to turn around only to find two guys coming up behind them. Two Face and Riddler ran in opposite direction as the gangsters chased them guns firing.

In his cabin, Hugo Stange cowered in the corner at the sounds of the gunfire. He had heard the laugh and knew that the odds of anyone getting of the boat alive were dropping. Suddenly the door opened and Strange froze in terror. Rupert Thorne stood in the door way, a blank look on his face. Without warning, he fell face down on the floor, revealing the knife stuck in his back. Strange looked down at the dead mobster in horror, until another man stepped through the door. Strange backed up against the wall as the man's shadow filled the room. Strange was sobbing with fear as the man raised his gun. "Please, I told them nothing! I swear to God, I didn't say anything! Please don't!"

**BANG! BANG! **

On the dock, Todd ran as fast as his crooked leg would let him towards the boat. He staggered down the pier around the dead bodies. It was quiet. Almost _too_ quiet. He looked over at the deck for any sign of Two Face or Riddler. Suddenly, Two Face climbed out of the hatch and onto the deck. Todd waved at him, Two Face noticed and waved for him to get some cover. The scarred former lawyer turned around and saw somebody come out the hatch. He was about to shoot when he realized it was Riddler.

"Riddler, great, now…" Two Face started to say, but stopped when he got a better look at Riddler. His eyes were glazed over and he was staggering around like a drunken man. "Riddler?"

"I… I…" Riddler wheezed, blood trickling out the corner of his mouth.

"What?" Two Face asked, desperately. "Ed, what?"

"I never… saw it coming." Suddenly Riddler fell forward onto the deck, allowing Two Face to see that there was a fire ax stuck in his back.

"Riddler!" Two Face cried as he ran to his fallen comrade. There was no pulse, no sign of life. The former lawyer shook with rage as he stood up.

Todd watched the death of Riddler in horror. Suddenly, he looked up on the catwalk on the second level of the ship and saw someone in the shadows holding a gun aimed at Two Face. He tried to find his voice and warn Two Face to look behind him, but it was too late.

**BANG!**

Two Face jerked and fell forward onto a crate.

**BANG! BANG!**

Two more shots hit Two Face's legs and he fell onto his back on the deck.

"Oh no, no, no, no!" Todd whispered terrified. He looked up at the shooter who was now stepping out of the shadows. Todd's eyes bugged out and his jaw dropped. The man was too far away for him to be able to make out his face, but he could see other features. His skin was white as bone and the hair on his head was green as grass. The guy looked like the Devil in the pale moonlight. The man put his gun back into the pocket of his purple trench coat and descended the stairs to the deck.

Todd panicked; he hobbled across the pier and hid behind a stack of cables and crates. Thankfully, the shooter hadn't noticed him. From this vantage point, he couldn't see Two Face anymore but he saw the man walking towards the place he had fallen. Todd watched through a gap in the cables as the man stopped in front of the crates Two Face had fallen by. He heard Two Face and the man exchange words. He couldn't hear what they were saying. Suddenly, something else grabbed Todd's attention: the sound of police sirens. The distraction with Bane and Killer Croc must have ended.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Todd's attention was grabbed by the sound of the man's laughter. It was a disturbing sound that chilled him to the bone. The man raised his gun and fired.

**BANG! BANG! BANG!**

Todd tried to scream, but the sound caught in his throat. The man turned and walked towards the edge of the boat, but then he turned and threw a lit cigarette towards the barrels of oil on the deck. Todd watched as the man climbed off the boat as a fire suddenly started near the barrels. He knew what was coming and he covered his head.

**KABOOM!**

Todd looked up and watched as the ship was engulfed in flames not noticing anything until the cops had their guns pointed at him.

"Don't move!" Ordered the cop who found him. Todd looked up from where he was sitting, and pointed to his prosthetic hand and his oddly shaped leg.

"Like I could do anything?" Todd asked pathetically


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I don't own the movie or comic characters.

**Present Day. Bullock's Office.**

Jason Todd shuddered as he finished his story; he ran a shaking had through his dark hair trying to calm down.

Gordon turned to the page on the statement transcript and what Todd said matched. "That's what you said here in your statement. You saw a tall, slim guy in a purple trench coat with a white face and green hair."

"Gimme a minute." Todd said, still trying to calm down.

"I don't have a minute." Gordon replied forcefully. "Are you saying you saw the Joker last night? You told the DA you didn't know who it was."

"There had to be chemicals on that boat." Todd said certainly.

"Stop stalling, Jason!" Gordon said pointing an accusing finger at the cripple.

"I'm not stalling!" Todd said tensely.

"Yes you are!" Gordon said, poking Todd's chest.

"Stop that!" Todd said angrily swatting away Gordon's hand. The crippled thief tried to stand up but Gordon pushed him back into the chair.

"You know what I'm talking about, Jason!" Gordon said angrily.

"No I don't!" Todd answered, equally angry.

"YES YOU DO! THE TRUTH!" Gordon yelled. "Tell me that you saw somebody kill Two Face!"

"I did!" Todd said emphatically.

"YOU'RE LYING TO ME!" Gordon yelled accusingly.

"I AM NOT LYING!" Todd yelled back.

"You've known! You've known this whole fucking time!" Gordon said getting right in Todd's face.

"I don't know what you're talking about! I did see Harvey get shot, I swear to God!" Todd said desperately.

"Then why didn't you help him? You were his friend and you had a gun. Why didn't you help him?" Gordon asked.

The question caused Todd to hang his head in shame. "Because I was scared."

"Scared of what?" Gordon asked.

"I saw him, Lieutenant!" Todd said, desperately trying to get Gordon to understand. "I saw the white face, the green hair and that God-awful laugh. I couldn't move, I couldn't think let alone use the gun."

"But Two Face…" Gordon started to say, but Todd interrupted.

"It was the Joker, Lieutenant Gordon! I didn't get a good look at his face, but I knew it was him. It was the Joker, Satan himself! How the hell do you shoot Satan in the back? And what do you think he'd do to you if you miss him?" Todd asked, holding up his prosthetic hand.

Gordon could tell that Todd was being sincere and he backed off. "All right. You say that's what you saw, I believe you. But there's something else you need to know."

"What?" Todd asked, slumping in his chair.

"You ever heard of Hugo Strange?" Gordon asked, pulling out another file.

"Who?" Todd asked, not know who that was or what he had to do with anything.

"He was a criminal psychologist and blackmailer." Gordon said, reading through the file. "In order to avoid prison, he swore out a statement to the DA that he had seen and could positively identify the Joker. He said he had intimate knowledge of his business including robbery, drug trafficking, loan sharking, prostitution, and murder. Rupert Thorne had kidnapped Strange to get the information out of him."

"I've never heard of him." Todd said, still confused.

"Did you know that Sal Marone was once the protégé of Carmine Falcone?" Gordon asked.

"No. What's all this about?" Todd asked, getting totally lost.

"Falcone was like a father to Marone. Apparently, he was one of the few survivors of the Joker's reign of terror on Falcone's empire. He's had control over all of Falcone's old territory for a long time. Which is probably why he was there last night." Gordon said, turning a page in the file.

"I don't understand." Todd said, shaking his head.

"There were no chemicals on that boat." Gordon explained. "The only thing on that boat was Hugo Strange."

"Who is this guy you're talking about? I've never heard of him." Todd asked, getting annoyed.

"You've never heard of him, but Two Face had." Gordon said, getting a surprised look from Todd. "Rachel Dawes was called in to advise on the criminal investigation of Professor Strange. She knew who he was and what he knew."

"I don't understand where any of this is going!" Todd said exasperatedly.

"There were no chemicals on that boat. That's not what Marone wanted to buy. He brought all that money to buy Hugo Strange, the one guy who could identify the Joker. Once he knew who the Joker was, Marone could take revenge for his mentor's murder. Joker had to stop that from happening so he picked out some guys he knew he could march into curtain death. Your mission to the harbor wasn't to destroy drugs, it was a suicide mission to kill the one guy who could incriminate the Joker." Gordon explained.

"So… you're saying the Joker sent us there to kill this Strange guy?" Todd asked, trying to understand.

"No, I'm saying Two Face did." Gordon said.

"Huh?" Todd asked, once again totally lost.

"Jason, Two Face left you behind for a reason." Gordon said leaning against the desk. "You remember the files Cunningham gave you? If you all knew the Joker had that much access to you guys, if he could find you anywhere, why did he give you the money to run? Don't you think he could've used your help on the boat?"

"He… He wanted me to live." Todd said, defensively.

"A psychotic crime lord without a loyalty in the world finds it in his heart to save a worthless cripple who for all he knows could rat him out? Don't think so. So why?" Gordon said, pressing the point.

"Be… because of Rachel." Todd said, after thinking a second.

"Please don't give me that again. I don't believe that reform story for a minute. And even if I did, there's no way in hell he'd send you to protect her. So why?" Gordon asked again.

Todd wracked his brain, he didn't know what Gordon wanted him to say. He finally choked out, "Because he was my friend!"

"No, Jason. He wasn't your friend. Two Face didn't have friends. He saved you because he wanted it that way. It was his will!" Gordon said, shaking his head. Then he dropped the bombshell. "Two Face _was_ the Joker!"

"What?!" Todd asked, stunned at Gordon's statement.

"He was the Joker!" Gordon said. "The kind of man who could manipulate the wills of other people like Riddler or Penguin! The kind of man who could engineer a police line up with all his years of connections in Gotham PD! The kind of man who could've killed Rachel Dawes!"

Todd's breath caught in his throat, he was hoping to God he heard wrong. "What?"

"She was found twenty minutes ago in her apartment, one shot in the chest and one in the head." Gordon said grimly. "So, what do you think of Two Face now?"

"Rachel?" Todd asked, trying to grasp the implications.

"He used all of you to get you onto that boat. He couldn't do it by himself. He had to pull the trigger himself to be sure the one man who could identify him was dead." Gordon explained.

"But… but this doesn't make sense!" Todd said, fighting back tears. "The legend of the Joker has been around since before Harvey was scarred, how could he be the Joker?"

"Don't you get it? The real Joker was never involved in any of this. Cunningham, the orders, Two Face was behind it all along. He's operated under aliases before, sometimes even using stolen identities and names of dead people. He used the name of the Joker as an alias. What better way to ensure crooks cooperate than to invoke the name of the Devil himself? Strange must've stumbled onto Two Face's scheme." Gordon explained. "Two Face and Marone have been enemies for years, but imagine if he thought that Two Face was the man who killed his mentor Falcone. He'd be history. He killed Strange to protect the secret of his alias and he ended up killing Marone too. Two birds with one stone. I wouldn't be surprised if he was actually the one who sent Bane and Killer Croc to provide the distraction. Unfortunately, they were killed during our attempts to take them down last night."

"This is bullshit! It can't be!" Todd said, trying to deny what Gordon was saying, but it made sense. "I saw the Joker shoot him!"

"Did you?" Gordon asked, trying to get Todd to see what he had missed. "You said you hid when the Joker guy appeared and that you couldn't see Two Face's body from where you were. You heard the shot, but you didn't actually see him die, did you?"

"I knew him, he'd never…" Todd said, trying to deny the evidence.

"He programmed you, Jason. He programmed you to tell us what he wanted you to. He set up that guy you saw who was made up like the Joker. He knew that the police were getting close to uncovering his schemes so he had to go underground again, just like he did when he blew up his nightclub. He did all this to get rid of Strange, get rid of Marone and Thorne, fake his own death and disappear so he could keep working through his aliases." Gordon explained, hating to see the anguish in the man who sat across from him. "You said so yourself, where's the political pressure coming from? Why were you being protected? It's Two Face making sure you told us exactly what he wanted you to tell us. Immunity was your reward."

"BUT WHY ME?!" Todd demanded screaming. "Why not Scarecrow or Riddler or Penguin?! They knew everything I know! I'm a stupid cripple! Why'd he let me live?!"

"_Because_ you're a cripple, Jason." Gordon said heavily. "Because you're stupid. Because you're weaker than them. Because you couldn't see far enough ahead to see what he was doing."

"Oh God!" Todd said, his hand covering his face as he started to cry.

"If what you said is true and Two Face is really dead, then it won't matter." Gordon said in a softer tone. "It was Two Face's idea to hit the Taxi Service, was't it?"

"YES!" Todd said between sobs. "It's was all Harvey. We followed him from the beginning. I didn't know! I saw him die, I believe he's dead!"

"Then why'd you lie about everything else?" Gordon asked after Todd calmed down.

"You really want to know?" Todd asked, his voice dead and hollow. "I've never been good. Growing up, I was always in trouble. My foster father made it a point of telling me how useless I was. And then I got in the accident and lost my hand and fucked up my leg. I can't do anything right! God damn it, I'm not even a decent con man. Sticking to the code was he only thing I had. Not being a rat was the only thing I had to keep any dignity, and now I don't even have that!"

Gordon stared at the man with pity. "You're not safe on your own, Jason. He may not be the Joker, but I know Two Face. He's out there pulling strings for you, but we can protect you."

"No way, I'm not bait. I post today." Todd said stubbornly through his tears.

"You posted twenty minutes ago." Gordon corrected. "Commissioner Loeb wants you out of her ASAP unless you turn state's evidence."

"I'll take my chances, thank you very much." Todd said resentfully.

"What are you going to do, Jason? Even if you run, if somebody out there wants to get you, they will. Turn state's evidence, you might never see trial."

"That all may be true, but I'm not a rat, Lieutenant Gordon. I won't keep my mouth shut cause I'm scared. I'll keep my mouth shut for Harvey and Rachel. Because I let them down. If somebody kills me, it'll be because they heard I squealed and I bet they'll hear it from you." Jason said, standing up and staring Gordon defiantly in the eye. The crippled man turned and trudged out of the room, giving Gordon one last withered glance. "Fucking cops."

Gordon watched as Todd shuffled through the office and off to who knows where.

At that moment, over at the hospital, Zsaz had finished giving his description of the Joker to the artist. Tracy Fitzgerald showed the sketchpad to Zsaz. "Is this him?"

"YES!" Zsaz said, becoming agitated at the sight of the drawing. "THAT'S THE JOKER! THAT'S THE JOKER! THAT'S… That's…. thaaa…."

"Mr. Zsaz?" Agent Meredith asked. Zsaz let out a sigh and the monitors suddenly flat lined.

"Code Blue!" Dr. Thompkins yelled. Doctors came running in with a crash cart. "I'm going to have to ask you all to leave now!"

The FBI personnel were hurried out of the room but it didn't matter now that they had the sketch. Agent Meredith turned to the sketch artist. "May I have that sketch?"

"Yes, Sir." Tracy said, giving him the drawing.

Agent Meredith walked up to the reception desk with the sketch. "Excuse me, I need to use your fax machine."

Meanwhile, back at Gotham Police Headquarters, Jason Todd was at the depot getting his personal items back. He stood there humming some song waiting for the cop working the desk found his deposit box.

The cop looked over his shoulder and asked, "What's that you're humming?"

"Oh, it's, uh, Sondheim." Todd said offhandedly.

"Oh. OK." The cop pulled out the box and read the list off. "One watch, gold. One cigarette lighter, gold. One pack of Marlboro cigarettes. One red handkerchief. One ballpoint pen, color red. One felt tip pen, color black."

"Thank you." Todd said, taking his possessions one at a time with his hand. He turned and hobbled out the door. He held onto the guardrail with his one arm as he struggled to get down the steps to the entrance. He limped down the sidewalk through the crowd of people.

Back inside, Gordon and Bullock sat in his office drinking fresh cups of coffee contemplating the day's events.

"You still don't have any new information." Bullock groaned.

"I found out what I needed to know about Two Face." Gordon said leaning against a filing cabinet.

"Which is about as much as you knew before." Bullock grumbled.

"Doesn't matter. He'll have to know how close we were." Gordon said, sipping his coffee.

"Well, Joker or no Joker, if Two Face is alive, he's not gonna show up again." Bullock said dismissively.

"We'll see." Gordon said smirking.

"I guess." Bullock said, looking through the pile of papers on his desk.

"You really need to get this place straightened out." Gordon said, snorting at the mess.

"Oh, it's already organized. There's a system here, you just can't see it unless you step back and take it all in." Bullock said drolly. "My garage on the other hand, there's a disaster area."

"I bet." Gordon said, staring at the bulletin board, lost in thought. It was suck a collection of junk, Gordon wondered how anyone could make of this mess of all these posters, adds, and newspaper clippings. His eyes traveled to the manufactures label. The coffee cup tumbled out of his hands and shattered on the floor. His eyes widened as a memory surfaced. He heard Jason Todd's voice in his head.

"_Back when I lived in Chicago, I was in a church choir."_

The manufacturer label read CHOIR Inc. Chicago IL. Gordon's eyes darted across the board and the more he saw, the more he became alarmed. He saw a newspaper clipping, the headline read "STARBUCKS ROBBED IN BROAD DAY LIGHT!" Another memory surfaced.

_"When I was working at a Starbucks back in Metropolis, I got free coffee."_

He saw a clipping that read "MISSING TWINS RETURNED HOME" and there was a picture of two little blonde girls hugging their parents.

_"Hey, Riddler, you know those cute-as-a-button twin nieces you have? What are they, five or six? That blonde hair is just darling."_

A flyer for Little Caesar's Pizza and right next to it was a flyer for Romero's Auto Repair garage.

_"Who was the guy that talked about the Joker back in Gotham?"_

_"Caesar Romero"_

A wanted poster for Boss Biggis, a mobster who weighed four hundred pounds. Next to it was an advertisement for Crazy Tracey's Used Cars.

_"Tracey Walter Big fat guy, I mean like has-his-own-area-code fat."_

A poster for a World Wrestling Entertainment pay-per-view featuring two wrestlers. It read "KANE VS. CHRIS JERICHO! This Sunday in Las Vegas!"

_"Some guy in Metropolis, he said his name was Jericho."_

_"There's this jeweler out of Las Vegas named Kane."_

A clipping of Bullock leading away the Penguin from Gotham Zoo that read "PENGUIN JAILED AT ZOO"

_"Mr. Cobblepot attempted to procure a rare California condor from the Gotham City Zoo."_

Gordon was stunned, he looked at the ground trying to get his mind to work when something caught his eye. He gazed at a broken shard of the coffee cup he dropped and read the two words printed on the mug: Cunningham Porcelain.

"Hey. What the hell is that stuff?" Bullock said, getting Gordon's attention. He pointed at the coffee cup that Todd was given earlier. There was a beige substance on the handle. It looked like the foundation makeup that his wife put on every morning.

"Dear God!" Gordon said, sprinting out of the office. He ran through the station as fast as he could, running right past the blinking fax machine. He had messed up, royally messed up. He ran up to the depot where Todd had just picked up his belongings. "THE CRIPPLE, DID YOU SEE HIM? WHICH WAY DID HE GO?!"

"He went out that way." The cop said, pointing towards the door.

Jason Todd stood at the crosswalk with a group of people waiting for the signal to change. He smirked a little, which then became a full-fledged smile. The signal changed and he hobbled across the street as the other people passed him.

He laughed as he got to the other side. A couple passing him saw and stopped. "What's so funny?"

"Oh, I uh, just played a joke on somebody." Todd said, grinning. The couple laughed with him for a second and continued on their way.

Todd trudged around the street corner just as Gordon raced out the door and onto the sidewalk. He looked frantically around for Todd. He heard everything he'd said to Todd in his mind.

"_I'm smarter than you. You're going to tell me what I want to know, whether you like it or not."_

"_First day on the job, do you know what I learned? How to spot a murderer."_

"_Todd, I know you know something."_

"_You know what I'm talking about, Jason!"_

"_Every single scumbag that works the streets for a living will know the name Jason Todd."_

"_YOU'RE LYING TO ME!"_

"_You've known! You've known this whole fucking time!"_

"_Because you're a cripple, Jason. Because you're stupid. Because you're weaker than them. Because you couldn't see far enough ahead to see what he was doing."_

"_Tell me every last detail."_

"_Convince me."_

"_Convince me."_

"_Convince me."_

Oh he convinced him all right. Gordon shouted as he looked "DID ANYBODY SEEN A CRIPPLED GUY WITH A PLASTIC HAND?!"

"Yeah." Said a cop standing a few yards away. "He just crossed the street. That way."

Gordon ran through the crowd in the direction the policeman pointed. He ran through the road, getting a few honks from cars, but he didn't care.

Further down the street, Todd limped along his way, not noticing that he was being followed by Gordon and a large black car. His bum leg seemed to slowly straighten out. After a few steps, he was striding down the street with two perfectly functioning legs. Instead of walking in a hunch, he was strutting proud and tall down the sidewalk.

Todd then rolled up his left sleeve and unhooked the apparatus that connected his prosthetic hand to his arm. He flexed his left hand, which had been cramped from being stuck inside that thing for so long.

Back at the station, a sketch was coming out of the fax machine. Agent West took the page and examined it. "Funny, this looks like that Jason Todd fellow."

"So, why are we being faxed his picture?" Asked Bullock.

On the street, "Todd" walked right by a hotdog vendor and grabbed a bottle of water while the owner's back was turned. He tossed the prosthetic arm into a trashcan near the cart. He then reached up and grabbed his hair. He pulled up and the dark wig he'd been wearing lifted off to reveal a head of green hair. An old man walked by him and sighed, people nowadays were dying their hair all sorts of dumb colors. He tossed the wig into a trashcan by a building he passed and then reached up and scratched his head; that damn thing made his scalp itch. He pulled out a handkerchief and opened the bottle of water. He poured the contents of the bottle on his face and right hand causing the makeup run. He then wiped at his hand and face with his handkerchief.

**BANG!**

The crowd in the street scrambled for cover as Gordon fired into the air. In a few seconds there was only Gordon and Todd, who had his back turned to him.

"FREEZE" Gordon said, aiming his gun at the man he knew up until a few minutes ago as Jason Todd.

"Is there are problem, Occifer?" asked "Todd" sarcastically.

"Get your hands up, Jason Todd!" Gordon ordered. "Todd" complied. His hands were raised but he clutched a ballpoint pen in his right hand. Gordon saw that both hands were totally white. "Assuming that is your real name."

"You know it isn't Gordy." Said "Todd" as he turned around. Gordon did his best not to look rattled by the sight before him; the water had cleaned away the make up, revealing the bleached white skin underneath. An insane grin spread on his blood red lips as he saw a flicker of astonishment in Gordon's eyes. "I killed the real Jason Todd years ago. I just needed an alias and his name was the first that came to mind. Though, I did embellish a little with the plastic hand and the limp."

"Was any of what you said true?" Gordon demanded as he walked towards the maniac.

"Oh… maybe." The Joker said, shrugging.

"Well, your plan didn't work. I know what you look like. A man over in the hospital said he knew what you look like. The hit on Strange was for nothing now." Gordon said triumphantly. To Gordon's confusion the Joker the just laughed, a sound that made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!! You really are an idiot! You think I care that you know what I look like? How hard is it to identify me? How many other men in the world have this gorgeous complexion, this stylish hair color and this winning smile?" The Joker asked, smiling in mockery of Gordon. "Besides, my appearance is all you'll ever have. I destroyed all records of the man I was before the Joker. You won't find anything. No birth certificate, driver's license, medical records, dental records, library cards, junk mail, NOTHING! Hell, even I don't remember what my name was anymore! I'm just the Joker now. The myth, the legend, the Clown Prince of Crime!"

"Then why put a hit on Strange?" Gordon asked as he came to a halt by the hotdog stand.

"Because he knew another secret." The Joker said, his smile vanishing. "He claimed to know the secret identity of Batman. That's what Marone wanted to buy, the bat's real name. A secret I want to remain secret."

"You killed Strange to protect the Batman?!" Gordon asked flabbergasted.

"I've been hiding behind the scenes for too long, Slim Jim, I'm ready to get back in the trenches. Now I'm tanned, I'm rested and I'm ready to give this old town a wedgie again! But if I want to have any real fun, I gotta have the bat. He's the only nemesis worthy of my attention. There's no fun in outwitting normal policemen. It's too easy! Hell, I just spent the last two hours pulling the wool over your eyes! But the Batman, now _there's_ a challenge! If anyone's going to take him down, it's gonna be me! Not some mobsters with too much money and no imagination and not some stupid police force that's mad because the bat doesn't play by their rules! I demand, nay, _deserve_ to be the one who burns the Batman!" The Joker said grandly, his insane smile returning.

"Well, you weren't lying about one thing, you really are crazy." Gordon said, angrily. "And killing Two Face and the others?"

"Oh, that was just a bonus." The Joker said, his smile growing. "Now that Two Face, Marone, Riddler, Penguin, Thorne, Scarecrow, Bane and Killer Croc are out of the picture, I'm the only real show in town! A few more steps and I can start having my fun! This city deserves a better class of criminal and I'm gonna give it to 'em."

"I don't think so." Gordon said, pulling out his cuffs. "You're under arrest."

"If you're dumb enough to think that, you probably think this is really a ballpoint pen!" The Joker said, pressing the button on the pen.

A beeping sound from the trashcan he was standing next to got Gordon's attention. He saw a blinking light on the prosthetic hand's harness. Gordon ran as the plastic explosive in the plastic hand detonated.

**BOOM!**

The blast threw Gordon through the window of the deli he was standing by. The Joker just laughed. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Ooh, my ride's here!"

The black car pulled up to the curb and the Joker got in the back seat. He motioned for the driver to go and the car took off. He looked to the seat next to him and saw the man he had dubbed Cunningham in his story to Gordon. "Nice to see you, Mr. J."

"Thanks, Cunningham." Joker said, wiping the last bit of makeup off.

"I beg your pardon sir." Asked the lawyer.

"Oh sorry, just an inside joke." Joker said, forgetting that wasn't his real name. "Did the boys get the money?"

"Yes, Mr. J, it's on en route to your hideout as we speak." Said "Cunningham" confidently. "And we left the surprise as you instructed."

"Good. There's just one more thing." Joker said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his black felt tip pen. He took the cap off the pen and stabbed it into "Cunningham's" arm.

"AH! Sir! What?!" Asked the lawyer, as he held his stabbed arm.

"I told you that _I _wanted to be the one to kill Rachel Dawes." Joker said sternly.

"Sir, I… ha ha… I… Hahahahaha!" "Cunningham" tried to say but began laughing. Joker smiled as he replaced the cap on his newest injector for his Joker venom.

"Well, since I guess I'll just have to settle for killing you." Joker said pleasantly.

"HAHAHA MR. J! HAHAHAHA! PLEASE! HAHAHAHAHAAHA! HAHAHahahaha… haha… ha…uhhhhhh." Laughed the lawyer, until his eyes rolled up into his head. The Joker grinned gleefully at the smile spread across the man's dead face.

"That's right, 'Cunningham', laugh! Life's funny and then you die! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" The Joker cackled. The car was filled with the sound of the Joker's insane laughter as it disappeared into the city.

Gordon stood up slowly inside the deli, he felt like hell, but he didn't feel anything broken. He wiped the blood from his face and went back outside. He surveyed the street, but there was no sign of the Joker. Gordon turned and ran back towards headquarters.

Inside the station, a distressed cop came up to Bullock and relayed some bad news. "Detective! The money from the harbor is missing from the evidence locker!"

"What?" Bullock asked incredulously.

"The boxes are there, but the money's gone!" The cop said. The two of them ran down to the evidence locker to check it out. They got there and the cop showed Bullock what he found. He took a box and held it open for Bullock. "Look, nothing but playing cards!"

"Playing cards?!" Bullock asked in disbelief. He grabbed a handful and saw that every one of them was a Joker card. "How the fuck did… you hear that?"

"Hear what?" The other cop asked.

"That." Bullock said, looking around. There was a beeping sound coming from one of the bigger boxes. He walked over and slowly removed the lid. He jumped up in alarm and yelled "RUN! GET EVERYBODY OUT OF THE BUILDING!"

Outside, Gordon had made it back to the crosswalk and now ran across the street towards the station. He'd get every man in uniform on this case, he'd alert Batman, he wouldn't rest until this Joker guy was behind bars. He'd messed up with Harvey. He really was on the straight path, and he had pushed him away. He'd make it up to him now by bringing his murderer to justice.

**KABOOM!**

It caught Gordon totally off guard. He fell onto the sidewalk in shock at the sound of the explosion. He sat there stupefied as the police station blew up. The building was a raging inferno, the stronghold for justice in Gotham City was obliterated. Bullock, Agent West, everyone he knew was in there. He looked up and saw little bits of paper falling from the sky. One landed right next to him and he picked it up. It was a charred Joker card. He couldn't think, he couldn't move. He'd never felt so angry or stupid. He heard the Joker's voice in his mind.

_The greatest trick the Devil ever played was convincing the world he didn't exist. And like that, he's gone. Joke's on you! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!_

THE END

Well, that's it. Hope you liked it. Please review.


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